


That Eldritch Abomination We Call Love

by SiliconAngel



Category: RWBY
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - No Semblances (RWBY), Alternate Universe - Space, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Child Abuse, Established Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, F/F, Falling In Love, Fantastic Racism, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Internalized Misogyny, Killer Robots, Lesbian Character, Love Confessions, Lovecraftian, Minor Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Robots, Self-Hatred, Sexism, Swearing, cassette futurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22516111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiliconAngel/pseuds/SiliconAngel
Summary: Fiona Thyme is the adopted daughter of a wealthy energy baron from the Federal Union of Atlas, the greatest superpower on Remnant. Being the only Faunus in a family of Humans, her life has been one of borderline servitude and submission to her 'betters'. But when a woman that came from nowhere suddenly starts demanding equal rights for everyone, Fiona can't help but feel a strange spark in her heart, one she believes needs to be snuffed out as quickly as possible. What she doesn't know is that she will be part of something that has been brewing for millions of years.Meanwhile, the Schnee Star Company has been dealing with a strange malfunction in its robots: various glitches keep occuring, like when a combat droid was suddenly activated during a checkup and went on a killing spree. A simple investigation led by the heir to the company, Weiss Schnee, will yield results of a satisfactory conclusion. She just needs to interview the Faunus worker that managed to survive.And to top things off, a young farmer visiting Atlas as part of her vacation meets a robot girl with actual feelings.
Relationships: Ilia Amitola/Weiss Schnee, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Robyn Hill/Fiona Thyme
Comments: 25
Kudos: 57





	1. That Is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie

**Author's Note:**

> For those wondering what Cassette Futurism is, read this: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CassetteFuturism

_**7th of May, 1995** _

The cold wind rolled through the valley, producing a whooshing noise that was echoed by the chasm that served as the only interesting thing in the flat desert of snow. A hovertruck glided through the air, entering the chasm, manouvering through the twists and turns of the rocky outcroppings before landing on a metal platform that extended from a structure built into the stone. The craft's hind ramp opened, and from it slowly descended a figure. It approached the guard that was stationed outside the door that led to the inside of the structure.

"Mister Schnee! Uh, w-we weren't expecting a visit from you!"

"Not to worry, this isn't a surprise inspection. But I will need you to open the door."

"Uh, y-yes, sir!"

The guard rumagged through their pockets, eventually finding what they were looking for: a keycard. They slid the card through the scanning device, causing the door to slide away, allowing Mister Schnee to go inside.

"ALL WORKERS, BE ADVISED: THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE SCHNEE STAR COMPANY IS VISITING. BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOUR OR YOUR WORK CONTRACT WILL BE EXTENDED FOR AN ADDITIONAL 20 WEEKS," blared the intercom as soon as the doors closed.

On their way through the facility, Jacques passed various workers who paused to give him salutes. He ignored all that, and proceeded to the area which was marked with an overhead sign that read 'Mines'. Descending the stairs, he saw miners operating power tools on multicoloured crystals that lined the walls of the cavern. The workers came in all sorts of shapes: some had cat ears, others deer horns, and there was even one with skin that changed colours from beige to red when he was hit with a rock that fell from the ceiling. Jacques sneered at the sight before him. Even though his company had employed Faunus as part of the new Harmony Act, it still didn't change the fact that the Faunus are, always were and always will be, an inferior race to Mankind. At least, that's what it seemed like to Jacques.

Finally, he came before a mining area that had been obstructed by Schnee-made combat droids. The blocky machines recognized the CEO of the SSC, moving aside to reveal a long corridor that had been carved into the stone. A minute of walking later, he came upon a single individual that was looking at something on his workbench.

Jacques spoke: "Doctor Pietro Polendina."

Pietro looked up from his bench. The light from one of the lamps that lined the cavern walls highlighted his dark skin and dark red hair.

"Oh, Mister Schnee! I wasn't expecting you so soon!"

"Have you forgotten who has access to the fastest hovertech in the entire solar system?"

Pietro adopted an embarassed expression. After all, he designed that hovertech _specifically_ for the Schnee Star Company. He tended to forget things like that, it wasn't easy working directly for Jacques Schnee.

"Ahem. Well, anyways, now that you're here, allow me to tell you-"

"Why I had to skip a trade agreement about ownership of a particularly mineral-rich piece of Remnant's moon that could have increased the Company's yearly income by 15%? Yes, go on ahead, offer me an explanation, otherwise that little Project P.E.N.N.Y. of yours is going into the trash bin, where it belongs!"

Pietro made a quiet gasp. This wasn't the first time Jacques had threatened to compromise his work, but he had never been so bold as to claim to be willing to harm his proudest achievement. _No matter_ , Pietro thought. _I never dissapoint._

Pietro moved aside so that Jacques could take a good look at the thing on Pietro's desk. It was...

A hand.

The initial shock of seeing a hand not attached to a body took Jacques completely by surprise. After reeling from the sudden revelation, he realised that the hand actually was attached to something, the wall of the cavern. In fact, upon closer examination, he could see that it was partially see-through and green, like green opal. Finally, he noticed it was a left hand.

"This, this thing, it isn't some fluke of nature, is it?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. I checked the fingers, and they have fully-formed fingerprints. Whatever this is, it isn't natural. Or, at least, not in the sense we might think of."

Jacques stood in silence. The hand was outstretched, with fingers pointing forwards. Almost like it was reaching out to something, or _someone_?

"I apologise for my tone earlier," Jacques uttered. "Clearly, your outrageous claims that whatever it is you've found is of incredible interest have been proven true once again. Heh, is there any promise you can't deliver on?"

Pietro smiled.

"Well, I can't break the laws of physics, if that's what you mean!"

Jacques turned to him, clearly unamused by what Pietro thought was a good joke.

"I'll hold you to that," he grumbled.

Then, the hand twitched. In doing so, it produced a cracking noise that prompted both of the men present to turn their heads like deers in headlights. The hand continued moving, closing into a fist. Then, it retreated into the wall, and burst into a shower of dirt and rocks that overturned Pietro's workbench. When everything calmed down, a figure stepped into the light of the lamps. It was a Human woman, as green as the hand. She seemed to be surrounded by an ethereal presence that resonated through the air.

Jacques recoiled in pain. He felt as if a liquid had entered his body and began dissolving his entire organ structure. Pietro, on the other hand, felt a calming sensation, like a breeze that was at just the right temperature to make him feel safe and loved. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The two men noticed that the woman was gone, while sounds of weapons fire echoed through the hall. Jacques ran towards the source, Pietro moving after him. They came to the entry to the tunnel, only to find the combat droids that were guarding it laying on the floor in pieces that seemed like they were forcibly removed with a blowtorch, the metal on them still melting from what must have been an immensly powerful heat attack.

"INTRUDER ALE-", sounded the intercom before being interrupted by static, and then silence. Shouting could be heard from the upper level, and then a great crunching noise filled the air. Jacques and Pietro had just made it to the upper level, where they saw that the woman had torn the door to the outside from its frame. They saw her break the glass of Jacques' hovertruck, throw the pilot within onto the platform, and then enter inside herself. The craft took off shortly after, on a course to the city of Atlas, the capital of the Federal Union. Thinking quickly, Jacques took out his communicator, a blocky machine that looked like a beige-coloured brick. He typed in a number, and pressed it near his ear. From the other side came a gruff, tired-sounding voice.

"This is Amity Military Base, how can I help you, Mister Schnee?"

"My hovercraft has just been taken by an unknown individual while I was visiting the gemstone mine in your area. I need you to launch a missile and destroy it!"

A few moments passed, nobody saying anything. Then came the response.

"Mister Schnee, we have confirmation. We'll have the bogey down in no time."

In the wilderness of the continent of Solitas, where the Federal Union of Atlas was, a metal hatch opened inside the missile silo of Amity Military Base. The warhead, 7 meters in length, launched itself at tremendous speeds through the air. Its locking mechanism detected the hovertruck that was registered as belonging to Jacques Schnee. Usually, missiles are equipped with computer chips that connect to the locking mechanism that ensure that the missile does not strike civilians or such infrastructure. However, this was a Knight-class Armor Penetrating Warhead, an Atlesian design, which had no such restriction, in clear violation of the Haven Accords of 1995. There was a reason this was the first time that this particular missile was used for the first time since its inception.

The missile hit the hovertruck, causing an explosion that was so bright it could be seen from Atlas itself. The wreckage came crashing down into the snow, leaving behind a trail of smoke. The craft buried itself in the snow.

Meanwhile, back at the platform, Pietro came behind Jacques.

"Uh, mister Schnee?"

Jacques turned to face him.

"The press is going to kill us."

* * *

From the wreckage, the woman emerged unscathed. She was no longer made of crystal, but of flesh and blood. Having access to the sapient lifeforms on this planet helped her formalize her form. The last time she had met the natives of this world, she was being persecuted for being a monster of Grimm, whatever that was supposed to be. That was about 800 planetary rotations ago, if her senses were to be trusted. She turned to survey the damage done to the craft. Artificial materials, jet engines, and now appearently rocket-propelled explosives. The natives sure have advanced over the centuries. Now, she finally had enough genetic data to form her own identity. She just needed a name now.

She sincerely doubted that the Angel of Darkness, Lady Justice or even just Bob were going to be appropriate, if the paranoid feelings of all the natives she has met so far were anything to go by. She would have to think of something else. What was the name that was given to her by that little boy she had met 800 years ago, who showed her to his fellow villagers who didn't take kindly to her? What was it...

Robyn. Robyn Hill.

 _There we go_ , she thought to herself. The sound of approaching hovercraft was heard in the distance. _Time to take my leave_ _._ _First, to find shelter. Then, some clothes._


	2. Blinded By The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: There are some intense scenes here involving domestic abuse. Proceed at your own risk.

_**4th of April** **1995** _

Mantle was a simple little town that was established sometime in the 1700s, when the continent of Solitas was still divided into various small nation-states that fought each other for resources. Despite being a town established by the Human supremacists of the now-defunct kingdom of Arryendel, the city's population was predominantly Faunus. This, of course, led to discrimination from the town's Human citizens becoming commonplace, especially since the Humans generally enjoyed the privilege of comprising Mantle's upper and middle class, while the Faunus were mostly the lower class that worked in the mines harvesting coal, Mantle's then most precious export.

Of course, nowadays, in the years after the Second Industrial Revolution, when electricity converted from energy derived from the sheer power of atoms being forced apart was in every home, the mines were eventually replaced by nuclear power plants as the dominant sight in the local landscape. Of course, only those from the middle class could actually operate the plants, since they had the education neccessary to operate them without accidentally causing a reactor meltdown that would render an entire region of Solitas uninhabitable for 20,000 years. This meant that the Faunus that had been in poverty for a better part of Mantle's existence stayed in poverty, and that meant slums, shanty towns and poverty districts all around the city.

Therefore, it should not have surprised anyone to see a baby laying on the side of the road in one of the streets that separated the eastern slums from Mantle proper. And yet, someone was bothered. That someone being Nave Thyme, owner of Thyme Dynamics, the second largest corporation in all of Atlas, the first, of course, being the Schnee Star Company. The man had just finished inspecting a nearby administrative office whose purpose was to oversee paperwork coming in from the surrounding facilities belonging to the company. Due to a traffic jam, his private airmouzine was delayed, and he had no choice but to stay in the street, waiting for his ride. This gave him time to look more closely at his surroundings, and in doing so realised that what he was looking at was indeed a child. It was right near his feet when it started crying, startling him.

Truly, Nave was perplexed. He had spent years maneuvering the corporate world in order to get his corporation where it is today, made cutthroat deals behind closed doors that ended with dead bodies being found, he once even had to make sure that a cargo ship was sunk so that a rival company could fall into obscurity. He was responsible for so many awful things that he couldn't count them. And yet, here, now, faced with a mere child that, from the looks of it, was just a newborn, he couldn't think of what to do.

The baby was wrapped in a light green blanket, though there were red stains in some places, indicating that the baby must have been taken outside directly from its mother's womb. _How horrible_ , thought Nave. _Such barbaric practices. If the Faunus can't afford to raise a child while working, why even bother with trying to concieve. Ungrateful furries._

Then, Nave had an idea. What if, just what if, he took the child? After all, he had a stable life as the Chief Executive Officer of the second largest corporation in the country, his family life was stable, and the presence of a Faunus child would not only make him seem good to various Faunus rights groups that are currently annoying the government (in his mind, at least), but the child could also serve as a way to teach his own children (which were born 12 hours earlier, in fact) about the inferiority of the Faunus to Mankind. It was perfect.

Just as his train of thought had reached the decision, his airmouzine came descending on its four jet engines. Upon landing, a window opened, revealing the cheuffer, who was a rabbit Faunus.

"I apologize for the delay, sir. Back to your residence?"

Nave looked down at the crying newborn, noticing that the child had the ears of a sheep. Curious, he had never seen that kind of Faunus before. _Alright, let's do it_ , he thought, as he reached for the child.

* * *

_**24th of August, 2006** _

The television beamed background noise into the room as Nave made his way through the living room, getting his coat off. On the couch was his brother, Byzz.

"Where have you been? I thought I told you to meet me at Amity base!"

"Oh, stuff happened. I couldn't come."

Nave scoffed. "No, of course not, so you just stayed at _my_ place watching mindless entertainment on _my_ property! What is wrong with you!?"

"Well, maybe I _did_ have better things to do! I mean, don't you owe it to me? I spent six years, _six years_ , learning the language of Vale so I could partake in that trade deal with that damn idiot and his cult or whatever it was! What was his name, Ozpin or something? But no, _nooooooo_ , you had to go and bail out because you decided that it wasn't worth your time! Six years I'm never getting back! So this is my revenge!"

"You are acting like a child, you damn idiot," protested Nave, giving his coat to his wife, Ivory, who silently took it and went to put it on a hanger. He walked into the dining area, his brother following him, and there they continued their argument. Meanwhile, little Fiona was sitting on the couch the entire time, silently reading her personal copy of the Book of Light, the sacred text of the Church of the Light. This was the third time this week her adoptive father had entered into an argument with someone, surely that wasn't healthy. _But what do I know? I am just a dumb Faunus. It's nothing I should think about._

She was approached from behind by a machine that had a rectangular body at least a meter and a half tall, and a single round camera lens on top of a cubical box that served as the machine's head. It spoke to Fiona.

"Miss Fiona, your brother Berg wishes to talk to you."

Fiona gulped. What did her dear brother want now?

"Coming!"

She put her Book of Light onto a shelf under the TV, and walked past the robot as it watched her. The room where she and her siblings slept was not far off, meaning the robot could get a good look at what was happening in the room.

Fiona approached the door which had been left ajar. Her brother was sitting on his bed in a smug manner.

"What is it that you want-"

"What did father say about speaking without being spoken to?"

Fiona felt a shiver run down her spine. _Oh no._

"Um, that it is only for men to do so."

He eyed her, angrily.

"And?"

"...for _Human_ men, my apologies."

Berg stood up from his bed.

"See? _This_ is why I called you here. Despite the fact that you were raised from birth in our household, despite our best efforts to make you compliant with the truth, you still make mistakes like these! We can't have you embarassing us like this. You know what to do."

Fiona shuddered. She knew that she was a dirty Faunus - at least she _thought_ so - and that she was just a woman, but even this she considered to far. _But alas, what do I know?_

She opened a nearby drawer, and took out a lash. Carbon-fibre, the finest in all of Atlas. She gave it to Berg, and proceeded to remove her dress, but stopped so that just her back was uncovered, which was covered in scars of all shapes and sizes. Berg took a swing, and Fiona felt an aching pain in her back. It was so intense that she fell on her knees. She tried not to cry as Berg kept whipping her, but eventually she caved in and sobbed immensly, tears staining the bedroom's carpet. None of the adults in the house heard the whipping because they had all gone to the front porch to continue their argument, and Berg's biological sister, Linnie, was at her uncle's, meaning that the only one to witness Fiona's abuse was the residence's robot assistant, who watched the whipping from through the door that had been left ajar.

Now, of course, Berg and Fiona were not asking it for help with anything, meaning that all the robot could do was watch as the Human beat the Faunus into a mental breakdown. It couldn't do anything because responding to actions that did not concern it were not what it was programmed to do. And even if it was, it was a robot, a machine, a contruct given an experimental artificial intelligence - courtesy of Thyme Dynamics sponsoring the Atlas Intelligence Research Initiative - and ordered to serve a wealthy energy baron that owned a third of Mantle's energy complexes. It was just a simple servant.

The fact that its processor started heating up in a way not unlike how a person might heat up from sheer, unadulterated rage was just a simple malfunction, surely. Surely.


	3. Nuclear Fission In A Family

_**11th of February, 2010** _

The air resonated with the sound of talking. _Father must be especially desperate_ , thought Weiss Schnee, second daughter of Jacques Schnee, Chief Executive officer of the Schnee Star Company, the single greatest thing that had ever happened to the planet of Remnant. At least, that's what they liked to say.

Currently, the massive balcony of the Schnee Manor was occupied by various wealthy men and energy barons from across Atlas, and there were even some from nations such as Vacuo and Mistral. They had all convened on this location so that they could attend the reveal of the SSC's latest creation. What this was was kept secret, of course. The elite always flocked to anywhere it could experience such thrills. Weiss herself was standing near one of the tables with food for the attendees. Her sister, Winter, was to her right, striking up a conversation with some lady. Her brother, Whitley, was to her left, busy listening to a peer of his. The boy in question was explaining his own father's plans for building some new robot construction plant. Whitley seemed to listen a bit too intently, almost like he enjoyed the boy's presence more than what he was explaining.

Her train of thought was interrupted by another boy placing himself in front of her.

"I apologize for my intrusion, but I noticed how you were all alone. Surely, a fine lady like yourself would prefer the company of a man?"

_Oh, dear._

"Trust me, I am perfectly fine by myself."

The boy looked slightly surprised.

"Ah, playing hard to get, I see. Not to worry, I have a plan!"

He reached for his pocket, and from it he took out a small violet box. He proceeded to open it, and inside was a beautiful prismatic gemstone carved into an eight-pointed star. Weiss gasped. _Is that, the Prismatic Truth? The latest product by Yarmani Gemstones? The necklace that I want more than anything? Yes!!!_

Weiss almost lunged at the box, but she stopped herself at the last minute. _Wait, wait. Am I really going to fall for that old trick? Pull yourself together, Weiss. You're better than this. You're a Schnee, not some sugar baby!_

"I am afraid that I will have to pass on your offer."

The boy now adopted an expression of hopelesness.

"But, but this is your favourite, right!?"

"Yes, but you're going to have to try it with someone else. My standards are slightly higher than what you may think."

He turned furious.

"No, you WILL accept my offer! Do you know how much my family had to work to secure a position on this event? We need to get you as part of our family. The power and influence we would wield!"

Weiss scoffed.

"Well, try with someone else. You really are a fool if you think that someone from the most prestigious family on the planet would marry just any rich kid."

She turned to walk to Winter, but she felt the boy's hand grab her arm.

"Listen here, I'm not up for games. You will do as I say!"

"Let go of me!"

"Never! You'll either be mine, or-"

The chatter in the room fell to a deathly silence as soon as Weiss landed a slap on the boy's cheek. She could swear she could feel the stares of the assembled people bore into her, judging her for slapping the son of a member of the elite.

"You bitch! Your father will know about this!"

"I already do."

Weiss froze in place. _Shit._ She slowley turned to her left. _Shit._ She came face to face with her father. _Shit._

"Weiss, come with me."

* * *

By the time Jacques and his second daughter had returned, the crowd was turned to the podium that had been installed on the edge of the balcony. Standing on it were Winter, Whitley and Willow Schnee, who were quickly joined by Weiss and her father, completing the image of the wealthiest family in the world. Jacques tapped the microphone to make sure it was working, and after being satisfied with the result, spoke into it.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the 7th Annual Meeting of the Elite! I trust that the service has been up to your standards?"

A wave of nods spread through the crowd.

"Excellent, excellent! Good to see you all enjoying yourselves! After all, we're the ones that keep the world turning, the ones that make sure that there is a tomorrow! Never forget that!"

"Hear, hear," the crowd echoed.

"But, I digress. You're not here to listen to me listing obvious facts, you're here to see the surprise I've told you about! Well, let's not waste any more time."

The Schnee family all turned to face the snowy wilderness of Solitas. From underneath the balcony, a platform being suspended by jet-engines ascended until it was in full view of the crowd. On the platform's left was a line of three people, all Faunus, that were being held captive on chairs by metal bars. On the platform's right stood a single robot. Unlike the raptor-like legs of the standard combat droids made by the Schnee Star Company, this one had those of a Human or Faunus. Not only that, but instead of possessing the blocky bulkiness that was the defining feature of pretty much all contemporary machines, this one had a more streamlined design. It was much more smooth, overall.

"You all know about my company's famous Atlesian Warrior Combat Droids. Well, suffice to say, we have successfully created an improvement! Gentlemen, I introduce to you the Atlesian Knight!"

Murmurs spread through the crowd. A new combat droid? Most interesting news, that was. After all, the elite need all the best ways to protect their wealth from those who would unlawfully take it from them. The metal bars on one of the chairs removed themselves, allowing the large wolf Faunus that was imprisoned in it to make a run for the edge of the platform, but he barely made it out of the chair when he found himself pressed to the ground, the Atlesian Knight holding him in place.

"As you can see," Jacques continued, "the Knight has immensely improved reaction time, including-"

The Faunus grabbed the Knight's arm and tried to pry it off, yelling during the process, but to no avail.

"-increased durability and strength."

The Knight slowly brought the Faunus up to eye level - at least in the Faunus' case, the Knight had a large visor - and quickly proceeded to snap his neck. It let go of the body, which fell to the floor with a thud. The other to Faunus in the chairs were in utter shock, while the elite made various sounds of excitement and wonder.

"These Faunus were taken from the prison system, in case you were wondering. They are scum that nobody will miss, and are exactly the kind of people that the Atlesian Knight will be dealing with once they are released on the market. Their sensors are specifically modified to recognise Faunus features, to help distinguish law-abiding citizens from criminals. Any further questions?"

An old man raised his hand.

"Have you made any changes to their artificial intelligence?"

"Ah, yes! Indeed we have! Due to the much more complex features that the Atlesian Knight now posseses, we have had to make a more sophisticated version of the Atlesian Warrior's central proccessing unit. My technicians have told me that the CPU of the Atlesian Knight is like a robotic version of the Human brain, but they have assured me that there is no need to worry about any of them getting intelligent. They just need to fix some bugs in the code and the product will be ready for shipment. Now, let us proceed with the executions of these criminals!"

The crowd cheered as the Atlesian Knight approached its next victim, a cow Faunus that screamed in terror as the machine approached her. Weiss touched her face. On it was a scar, a very big one, still slightly red from when her father had given it to her. She did it again. She spoke against her father, the head of the household, the master of the lives of the family members. The wounds were becoming harder and harder to hide. There was a reason she didn't wear sleeveless and backless dresses anymore. She felt like crying when the Knight crushed the Faunus woman's skull in its hands, which made the crowd cheer on. She was sick of it. She couldn't do anything about it, but if she ever got even the slightest chance, she would burn this place to the ground. _Fuck that gemstone, fuck this place, fuck all of these people._

The Atlesian Knight advanced on the remaining monkey Faunus, who was paralyzed in fear. What none of the people on the balcony knew, except Jacques, was that the Knight was actually being remote controlled from the hangar below. The central processing unit that was supposed to be in the machine had been removed before the demonstration, because when they were running a test earlier, instead of shooting the Faunus that were lined as target practice, the Knight shot the engineers that were overseeing it. Despite this worrying incident, the Engineering Department assured Jacques that it was a simple glitch in its species recognition software, it didn't become self-aware and object to having thinking beings as targets.

It wasn't furious with what the SSC was doing at all. Not at all.


	4. Consider The Prism

_**10th of May, 2013** _

"The stars are not for us!"

That much was clear to Ilia. Ever since she was just a little girl, she had this strange fascination with those little dots of light high up in the sky. Arranged in curious constellations, simply sitting there, untouched by anyone. Even now, as she sat in the coffee shop, her mind was fixated on those little marbles of burning hydrogen, probably because she was studying Astronomy for an exam next week. She wanted to touch one, so badly.

Alas, it seemed like she wasn't meant to. Ever since the first colony on the Moon was established, there have been more and more scientific discoveries about how the unique biology of the Faunus was totally unsuited for the challenges of living outside Remnant's atmosphere. Allergic reactions due to lack of gravity, issues with visibility because of the different way in which light behaves when in a vacuum, and so forth. Evolving on a planet had its downsides, after all, and the shouts from the preacher didn't make her feel any better.

"If the Brother Gods had meant for Man to be able to walk among the stars, they'd have given him wings!"

The town square was bustling with activity, as usual. People, mostly Faunus, were returning home from work, some were going to work, and a few were simply enjoying the pleasantries offered by the shops that lined the streets. Periodically, someone would show up and cause quite a commotion. In this case, it was some preacher that had showed up some time ago. Ilia knew his kind well enough. Disillusioned idiots that attempted to sway the masses to what they thought was a good idea for a religion. Nowadays, if you wanted to start a cult, you'd do it anywhere but Solitas. The Church of Light was far too deeply entrenched into the continent's culture, meaning you had a better chance in a place like Vale, or Mistral. This preacher, though. He was different.

"The corporations must stop their forays into the depths of space! There are things there that float in the void, waiting for fools like us to make the mistake of reaching out! Monsters, demons, abominations that could not care less about the laws of nature, much less those of Man!"

The man had set up a large screen on a metal pole that he had built at the base of the fountain in the center of the square. Conveniently, it was facing the coffee shop that Ilia was currently in. Deciding to take a break from fantasizing about the unobtainable, she turned her head to her right, right head holding it over her notebook.

On the screen, a video was being played. She didn't see the beggining, but from what she could glimpse, the video was from the point of view of someone who was hiding in a bush. Beyond the leaves that were partially obscuring the view, there was what seemed to be a strange, dark light emanating from behind a rock in a woodland area. The trees Ilia recognized as some species from the countryside of Vale. Then, from behind the rock, stepped a...

To be entirely honest, she had no idea what that thing was. It had a generally insectoid appearance and bone-white skin. It had two eyes, though she couldn't tell whether they were compound, like those of a fly, or not. There was a thin sac-like protrusion on its back, filled with a rainbow-coloured fluid. The creature had six limbs: four legs and two arms. In its left, it held some kind of metallic object that had the general shape of a drill, and in the other hand was a single crystal, diamond, if Ilia's Geology textbook wasn't lying to her. The being brought its right hand, pressing something on the strange device she had just now realised was attached to it. She didn't hear the thing up close, but what she did hear was the single most unappealing sound she had ever heard, like the sound of cockroach legs that someone bassboosted and then mixed in with the sound of fish being slapped on naked meat. It sent a shiver running down her spine.

A few seconds later, the creature turned into a point of prismatic light, but only for a split second, and then it was gone. The crowd that had gathered was making various muttering sounds when the police arrived.

"Excuse me, sir. You are disturbing the public peace. I would like to see your identification, please."

The preacher turned to the five officers that had arrived.

"You can try to silence me, but I can assure you that the public WILL know the truth!"

The officer that had spoked turned to the one nearest to him, and then punched the preacher in the jaw. Three of the officers went about dismantling the apparatus, while one went about dispersing the crowd.

"Alright, everyone move out! Nothing to see here, just a regular crazy person."

Ilia glanced at her wristwatch. _16:30, shit!_ She quickly packed her things and made her way to the door.

* * *

The first sign that something was amiss was the unlocked door. She was positive that she had locked it before leaving for class today. The second sign that things were wrong was the presence of a strange man she had absolutely never seen in her life before. The third sign, the most damning one of all, was the badge that he was showing her.

"Miss Ilia Amitola? I am Dandee Quicksilver, from the Ministry of Family. I come with, well, terrible news.

Ilia calmly sat down onto her bed, which sat to the right of the entrance and opposite her roommate's.

"We at the Ministry are sorry to inform you that, uh..."

He pulled on his collar. Whatever this was, it was serious.

"...your parents have died in a mine accident."

Ilia was wrong. This was not serious. It was _downright catastrophic_.

"They died this morning when the Rickdee Mining Complex suffered a gas leak that resulted in an explosion that buried all entrances to the mines. I'm sorry."

The man left in an awkward fashion, sliding through the door like a snake. Meanwhile, Ilia's world began crumbling down.

Her parents, her mother and father, gone. Buried underneath several hundred tons of rock. What a graceless way to die for those who have sacrificed so much for her. They had to sell everything, their house, their car, everything, just so Ilia could attend one of the most prestigious universities in all of Atlas. And now? No more eagerly awaited family reunions. No more conversations about hobbies and interests with people who actually cared about those things. No more spending quality time with the ones who loved her. No more of any of that, and it killed her. Ilia collapsed on the bed, crying her heart out. Nobody was going to comfort her, not anymore.

Her time of mourning would have probably lasted until she passed out had it not been for a single thought that reach her mind. In all the emotions she was feeling, she didn't notice until now something unusual. That man, he claimed to have come from the Ministry of Family. Ilia knew the Ministries of the Atlesian government by heart, as was part of her education at Atlas Academy.

There was no such thing as a Ministry of Family.

* * *

Dandee made his way into the hovercraft that had been waiting for him in front of the Atlas Academy dorm rooms. As soon as he got on, it sped away, its jet engines propelling it into one of the lanes of air traffic.

"Remind me again why we're spying on an innocent Faunus girl?"

The other man in the hovercraft, shrouded in darkness, spoke in a voice that had been heavily modified in order to preserve his identity.

"Simple, Agent Quicksilver. She bore witness to that video that Doctor Sheldon Ryth made. You know the one, we've all seen it."

"Alright, but why spy on her, instead of arrest her like we did with those other Faunus that saw the footage?"

"She's one of Atlas Academy's top students. The Man On Top wants to recruit her to the organisation, and like always, she needs to prove herself as capable of uncovering a mystery. She knows there's no such thing as a Ministry of Family, her last semester's thesis was about all the Ministries, for Brothers' sake!"

"A woman among our forces? Sounds like a nice change."

The man in darkness brought his arm to his head, resting it on his fist's palm. From the dark came a face covered in a featureless mask with two holes for eyes.

"Actually, the Man On Top wants to make her a secretary. That's why he ordered us to give her this incredibly simple mystery to solve. Anything more advanced and she would have been stuck. Remember, Quicksilver, even though she's a top student, she's still a woman, and a Faunus. Never overestimate their capabilities."

"Ah, very well," Dandee replied, with a hint of dissapointment in his voice. He looked out of the hovercraft's window and into the air traffic.

 _It's all for a better world, Dandee,_ he though to himself. _It's all for a better world._


	5. A Rose Full Of Stars

_**7th of June, 2005** _

A breeze of cold air raced through the forest, a swarm of pollen barely visible as it was carried by the wind. Through the window of a house on the dirt road that led to the nearby village of Patch, a little girl dressed in an adorable strawberry costume watched the sight with wonder.

The girl, who went by the name Ruby, had received a visit from her uncle, Qrow, and his sister, Raven, who just happened to be the mother of Ruby's half-sister, Yang. They came because today was Crop Day, a celebration of the summer season and the time when all the crops that the village grew would be harvested and taken to the village square, where they would be put on display for the festival and sold to the transporting companies that would take four fifths of the crops to the rest of Vale. The remaining fifth would feed the village.

Ruby and Yang's father, Taiyang Xiao Long, owned a plantation of strawberries, which is why Ruby was wearing the costume. All the children dressed up as whatever food their parents raised, it was tradition. And yet, the celebrations were over, the party at Taiyang's house ended a while ago, and the adults were stuck with the duty of cleaning up the mess. Yang helped, as she was the eldest sister. Ruby heard her mother, Summer, arguing with Raven about something or other. They tended to do that ever since Raven and Taiyang divorced. Ruby coudn't understand what divorce was, but it wasn't good, it seemed.

Just as the breeze with the pollen passed the house, Ruby noticed a flash of light in the forest. It wasn't very bright, but it was coloured in every colour that Ruby had ever seen, even some she had never seen. Being the inquisitive little girl she was, she decided to see what it was. Sure, it was late, but Ruby constantly walked through the forest during the summer season, she knew the place like the inside of her pocket. And besides, she knew how to behave if she met any predators or strangers. Stealthily, she left the house, and made her way outside.

Around five minutes later, she was already deep inside the forest, and the rainbow-coloured light had become brighter, though not by much. There was a dark quality to the light, almost like it didn't know how to be bright, and decided to look more like a shadow than light. Ruby saw how it emanated from behind a rock that jutted from the ground like a claw. Ruby approached the other side of the rock, and saw...

Ruby was taken back by the, _thing_ , that was standing in front of her. It had a generally insectoid appearance and bone-white skin. It had two milky eyes shaped like almonds. There was a thin sac-like protrusion on its back, filled with a rainbow-coloured fluid. The creature had six limbs: four legs and two arms. In its left, it held some kind of metallic object that emitted the light from its front part, and with its other hand it held onto a crystal that was embedded in the rock. The creature turned its head to face Ruby, its tool continuing to emit the light while sparks flew from the place where it was touching the crystal.

The creature produced a noise that sounded like cockroach legs that someone bassboosted and then mixed in with the sound of fish being slapped on naked meat. Ruby cringed at the creature's voice, but her discomfort soon turned to surprise when the being spoke.

"Apologies, the translator needed to adapt. Are you alright?"

The voice was surprisingly deep, and Ruby couldn't tell whether it was male or female.

"Um, who are you?", Ruby asked. The creature was silent for a few moment before answering.

"I am someone with work to do. Please, do not interrupt me."

The creature turned to look back at its work. Ruby was slightly dissatisfied, to be perfectly honest. Here she was, face to face with some strange creature that terrified her, even though she was brave enough not to show it, and it wasn't even interested in her.

"Well, that's not fair. I came here all the way from my house because I saw your light! I wanna know what you're doing!"

The creature sighed. At least, it did what Ruby assumed was sighing. It was hard to tell when it had two mandibles for a mouth.

"Well, since you insist. I am currently trying to cut off this crystallized carbon structure so I may study it. I have never seen anything like it before, and I wish to learn about it."

There was no sound except for the drill.

"Um, what is a carbon?"

The creature lowered it's head. Ruby got the impression that it didn't feel like explaining what must have been a trivial concept in whatever place it came from.

The drill stopped glowing, and the creature took the diamond in it's hand.

"Well, then, that does it. Goodbye."

"Wait, what?"

The creature walked away, then stopped before speaking into some strange metallic device that was attached on its right hand. It spoke into it with that same irritating voice as before, and then disappeared in a flash of prismatic light.

Ruby couldn't believe it. That must have been the single rudest person she had ever met. Not talkative, unwilling to fully answer her questions, and they even left, just like that, without properly ending the conversation. Unbelievable! And she walked all the way here for that!

"Ruby!"

She turned to where she had come from. _Of course_ , she thought, her family must be looking for her. She proceeded to go back the way she came.

Meanwhile, behind her, a short-haired redhead with a camera stepped outside the bushes he was hiding in. A massive grin was plastered on his face.

"Sheldon, you've struck gold."

* * *

"You did what!?"

The creature slammed its hands on the circular table.

"I told you, I thought I was perfectly hidden."

"Perfectly hidden my thorax! Admit it, you didn't even bother to set up a cloaking field! What happened was entirely your fault!"

"Well, technically, it's not my fault that light travels at the spe-"

"Don't do that. Don't change the subject."

It raised its hands and pressed them together, strolling from point to point and sharply exhaling air in frustration.

"Professor Entrikkix, your forgetfulness has costed our operation here more than any endeavour we have made to study the natives combined. Your ideas are too far-fetched to be taken seriously, and you don't even respect protocol. I am afraid that I am going to have to replace you."

Entrikkix simply sat on* their chair. They didn't know how to respond, how to defend themself. It wouldn't be the first time they've let this happen to them.

"I've sent a message to Essam Prime, asking for a new Chief of Sciences. In six weeks, there will no doubt be a ship to relocate you. I recommend you start getting ready. Am I clear?"

"...yes, Commander Yiktaalix."

The Commander walked out of the room, the circular door automatically opening to let them through. Entrikkix brought their hands to their face, and started screeching in a low, barely audible manner. The sack on their back turned a deep blue, and it began to leak from the part where the sack and the exoskeleton met in copious amounts.

 _Not again_ , thought Entrikkix. _Not yet again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: not a typo


	6. An Electric Sheep

_**20th of July, 1987** _

Grey sand stretched as far as the eye could see. In the distance, massive chunks of space debris floated amongst a pure black void. Between them, points of light moved in synchronised patterns to and fro. Further back, the blue-and-green sphere of dirt known as Remnant floated in the inky blackness. On the surface of the Moon, a silver structure shaped like an eight-pointed star was sprawled across the inside of a crater nearly 6 kilometers in diameter. Deep below the central tower, an elevator stopped at the lowest level, almost 24 kilometers beneath the surface. From it stepped a man of dark skin and red hair, known as Pietro Polendina. He walked across the smoothed-out moonrock to an assembly of scientists that was gathered around something. A man among them noticed Pietro.

"Doctor Polendina! Thank the Brothers you're here, we hoped you could make something out of this, since you're the only one here with a computer science background."

Pietro was puzzled.

"What? Every single engineer on the Moon has a computer science background! Why do you need me specifically? Also, why? Did something break down? All the more reason to call a regular engineer."

"Well, true, but you're the only one who understands the inner workings of the devices. And this is right up your alley."

Pietro wanted to ask what the man meant, but he got his answer once he finally laid his eyes on the source of the commotion. Set inside the moonrock, there was a tablet, as high as Pietro and twice as wide, made from what seemed to be clay, but the bone-white colour and faint prismatic glow it radiated indicated otherwise. On the tablet was a carving of a group of strange, owl-like creatures with four wing-like appendages. They had plus sign-shaped engravings on the parts of their bodies where a Human or Faunus might have their stomach. The group of beings were arranged around a decagon surrounded by triangles. Inside the decagon was-

Pietro's train of thought was cut off by what he saw. It was a strange amalgamation of lines, dots and circles, and they would seem like that to a regular civilian, but Pietro? He saw it for what it was: the schematic for an incredibly complex computer system, possibly the most complex he had ever seen, and he was quite sure this wasn't something Human- or Faunuskind were capable of achieving at this point in their history. In fact, if the calculations Pietro did quickly in his head were correct, this schematic could-

"Doctor Polendina?"

"...this is intelligence."

"Excuse me?"

"By the Brothers, this is intelligence! This right here, it's the schematic for a true artificial intelligence!!!"

Pietro almost jumped with excitement, while the scientists murmured amongst themselves.

"I see. We thought it might be some kind of computer blueprint, but we didn't have anyone to confirm. Do you think we might be able to, uh, replicate this?"

Pietro brought his left hand to his chin.

"Well, it does seem eerily similar to our electronics. I recognise several connections and pathways, though some of these might need some tweaking to work with our technology. We'll need a whole team for this."

He quickly turned around and went for the elevator.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To talk with the Site Director. They'll be interested in this."

* * *

_**4th of January, 2009**_

The silver doors automatically opened to allow Jacques Schnee to pass into the laboratory, accompanied by his eldest daughter, Winter. There were papers, gadgets and even plants on every table in the place, and Pietro was standing outside the only other door, which was on the other side of the lab.

"Ah, mister Schnee! Ah, and miss."

Winter simply nodded.

"Alright, what is it this time, Pietro? I was busy inspecting the Helium-3 refineries, they are one of my most valuable assets on this rock. Can't have Thyme Dynamics hogging all the Moon, I tell you that."

"Oh, let me show you!"

Faster than either Jacques or Winter could register, Pietro made his way through the doors, which were manual ones. The two Schnees hurried behind him.

"Hey! I do not understand why you can't just explain it to-"

Jacques had a tendency to rant. Everytime something didn't go as planned, or someone was disrespecting his authority, Jacques started to number down every way he could think of in which this problem would affect him. In all his years in the corporate business, no unexpected interruption was serious enough to warrant a cessation of his rants.

Until now.

Before them was a body of a Human girl with wires sticking out of the back of its head. The girl had pale skin, a short copper hair in a bouffant hairstyle, and was wearing a green dress with black lines going from top to bottom. Pietro typed onto a nearby console, and the wires detached from the girl. A soft whirring sound permeated the air, and as it slowly died down, the girl opened her eyes, revealing two bright smaragdine assemblies of image sensors arranged to look like irises. Pietro approached the girl.

"Penny, this," he gestured to Jacques, "is Jacques Schnee, Chief Executive Officer of the Schnee Star Company. That over there is his eldest daughter, Winter Schnee. Say hello."

The girl stared directly into Jacques' eyes with a terrifyingly indifferent expression, before sporting a large smile.

"Salutations! I am Penny, pleasure to meet you!"

She waved at Jacques, who simply stared in awe.

"...this is Project Penny? All this time I though you were busy making some nerdy thing for your own enjoyment, but you were actually creating life!? I thought you said all that funding was for some supercomputer!"

"But she is! You see, her central processing unit is an exact replica of the Human brain, which is the most complex computer in all existence! Not even the supercomputers at the Beacon Institute are this powerful! And I have surpassed them! Please, let me show you what I've been working on..."

As Jacques went to follow Pietro out of the room, Winter was left alone in the room, with Penny.

"You seem awfully quiet," Penny noted.

"Excuse me?"

"You don't talk much. It's strange, everyone else that I know always talks so much about me, and about things like 'military applications' and 'violations of nature'. Some like my body, or my brain to be precise, and others think I should be melted down and never talked about again. But you're the first who hasn't said anything after my greeting. You don't even seem mad or even interested."

"I am the daughter of Jacques Schnee. Not seeming interested is my job. I go with my father for publicity's sake, I say the words he tells me to say, smile when needed, end of story."

Penny pondered Winter's words. She hummed as her processors analyzed what she had heard.

 _Stay calm_ , Winter thought. _You are Winter Schnee, renowned for your cool-headedness and ability to maintain composure even in the worst of times. Do not show weakness by being intimidated by this machine. Stand against it, show it that it had no power over you, show her that just because she is pretty she can't make you do anything._

Winter smirked at her own thought process, courtesy of her father instilling her with an iron spirit so she wouldn't-

_...wait, what?_

Did, did she call her pretty in her own mind? _But, she's a machine! How can I think a pile of synthetic materials could be-_

"Sounds like a lonely life."

Winter left her thoughts to look at Penny.

"It doesn't sounds like you have many friends."

"I have acquaintances, people with whom I can hold conversations, but no, not friends in the usual sense."

Penny's smile, which she still held, instantly fell. The glow of positivity she seemed to still have disappeared. Winter noted this abrupt change, and suddenly felt her heart slightly tighten. _Wait, why should I feel sorry for her? It's not my fault she isn't used to the harsh realities of this wo-"_

"I can be your friend!"

Silence ruled for a few moments. Finally, Winter responded.

"...I think that's a wonderful idea."

She extended her hand, and Penny took it. The touch of Penny's fake skin sent a sensation through Winter, but not one of discomfort, but rather, she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. Winter wondered what this strange sensation meant. She would have to ask the family doctor about it.


	7. Heaven Help Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for not posting in a while, I got down with the sickness. Not COVID-19, just the common cold, though it did knock me out for a weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to return to a regular update schedule now. To those who have stuck around for this long, thank you!

_**20th of March, 2020** _

The airmouzine glided across the pavement of the parking lot in front of the headquarters of Thyme Dynamics, the second tallest building in the city of Atlas, the first, of course, being the headquarters of the Schnee Star Company. It parked itself, then the driver, a rabbit Faunus, went out, proceeding to open the other door. Out stepped Nave Thyme, followed by his adoptive Faunus daughter, Fiona Thyme, and one of his many secretaries, a fox Faunus. As they entered the building, Nave turned to his secretary.

"Miss Flae, I had an appointment with someone today, didn't I?"

Miss Flae began searching through her papers.

"Uh, um, ah, yes! You have the leader of an activist group that wants to speak with you, a certain-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Thyme."

Nave turned to the security guard that had interrupted the secretary.

"There was a woman that said she had an appointment with you. We tried to make her leave, but she just ran past us and got to the elevator. Somehow, she had credentials to your office."

Nave's face took on an expression of surprise, and he hurried for the elevator.

"Get me a full security detail through the secret entrance, but do not breach. I'll tell you when you can. Fiona, Miss Flae, come along."

The elevator needed a minute to get down from the top of the tower, and then another to get back up. When it arrived, its three occupants stepped into a long room whose walls were lined with portraits, awards and souvenirs from across the world. On the far side from the elevator was a massive window that overlooked all of Atlas, and in front of it was a desk surrounded by four chairs, three in front, one behind. In the last one sat a woman in a dark green jacket over a white shirt, a pair of charcoal-black pants and brown winter boots, which she was resting on the table.

"What in the-"

"Ah, Mister Thyme! You've made it just in time," the woman spoke with a strict, but sarcastic tone. She stood up and walked over to the window.

"Who exactly are you?", Nave inquired. The woman chuckled.

"I'm the activist you arranged to meet."

Nave was caught off guard.

"You? But, you're so young! And a w-"

"Appearances can decieve. Just like that painting that's actually a secret room filled with soldiers," she said, pointing to a portrait of Nave in the Atlesian countryside.

If Nave was surprised before, now he was dumb-founded.

"What? How did you know?"

The woman turned and walked over to him.

"That's irrelevant. My name is Robyn Hill, leader of the Alliance of Equity."

She extended her hand. Nave hesitantly took it, and they proceeded to shake. Soon, they broke off, and everyone in the room proceeded to sit in the chairs. Robyn sat in the middle chair, Miss Flae on her right, and Fiona on her left, while Nave sat in his chair.

"Alright then, what exactly did you want to talk about, Miss Hill?"

Robyn leaned on her chair in a non-chalant manner, mildly shocking Miss Flae with her unladylike behaviour.

"Mister Thyme, are you aware of how much your company earns in a year?"

Nave chuckled slightly. Of course he knew that, he was the CEO! _What is this young lady on about?_

"Is there any reason I shouldn't?"

"Well, maybe you would wish you didn't if I showed you this."

Robyn produced a folder - seemingly out of nowhere - and opened it. Inside were various photographs of Thyme Dynamics personell beating Faunus workers with their guns. Nave cringed at the sight, but more out of disgust for seeing blood, not something he was used to. Miss Flae gasped at the images, her hands covering her mouth, while Fiona simply stared at the floor. She wasn't allowed to get emotional in public, especially not over something like these Faunus beatings, which her father had repeatedly told her was trivial, as Faunus lives were much more expendable than Human ones. Such were the teachings of the Church of Light, and who was she, a mere Faunus woman, to speak against it?

"Huh, so I was wrong. You really are a heartless bastard. I thought you didn't know that these were happening."

"Although the Faunus are lesser beings, my company does not encourage violence against them. Unlike those at the SSC, we actually care about keeping our tools in working condition."

Robyn made an exasperated sigh.

"Tools. You're not even denying it. Everywhere I go on this damn continent, the situation is the same. You treat these beings like they are mere objects, like machines, while you live in luxury and splendor. How did it come to this? How could it ever come to this? Even after all these years, I still find it surprising how low a species can fall."

Nave opened a drawer in his desk and took out a flask of Mistralian brandy. He proceeded to unscrew the cap.

"Miss Hill, if you are here to make pointless and obvious remarks about the state of this world, I suggest you go file a complaint, instead of wasting my time." he paused to take a few swallows from his brandy. "I'm sorry your idealistic 'love-and-compassion' worldview is not how you thought the world worked. Now please, do all of us a favour and go back to your husband. He must be annoyed by your lack of presence at his side, surely?"

Robyn stared at Nave with a look of what, to Nave, seemed like righteous fury and immense dissapointment. He would be lying if he said it didn't intimidate him quite a lot, which is why he stayed quiet and composed, though his brain was screaming at him to run away at the sight of this 'alpha-predator'. Perhaps he should have listened.

"Fine," Robyn answered after a tense moment of silence, and took her folder. She walked to the elevator, and turned to Miss Flae.

"I can't understand how you can live like this, as slaves to these people. How can you let them walk all over you? Where's your sense of self!?"

Miss Flae's vision raced across the room, looking everywhere except Robyn, who turned to the other Faunus in the room.

"What Humanity has done to you is shameful, shameful! And you can't even feel so-"

The sentence was stuck in Robyn's voice. The woman she was looking at, Fiona, there was something about her. There was some sort of beauty to her. The way the sunlight from the famously clear skies of Atlas passed through her bone-white wool, the twitching her ears made occasionally, that sweet, innocent look in her eyes that showed a spirit that managed to remain unbowed even after all these years of abuse from her adoptive family.

"...whatever," Robyn finally said, before entering the elevator. As she descended down to the ground floor, she smiled.

_That should have been enough time. Time to see whether they succeded._

* * *

Fiona lightly thrashed around her bed. No matter how hard she tried to focus on something else, she just couldn't stop thinking about that woman that had showed up in her adoptive father's office. She was a textbook delinquent: wearing unladylike clothes, behaving in an unladylike manner, speaking in an unladylike tone, and yet, there was an odd attractiveness to her, especially how her silver-gold hair reflected the sunlight, the way her face looks like a marvelous sculpture, and those purple eyes of hers. Fiona had never seen such an eye colour before, and yet she found them utterly mesmerising. The only reason she didn't collapse on the spot was because she was trained not to lose her composure in such compromising situations. Nevertheless, the tight, yet somehow pleasant feeling in her heart could mean only one thing, which she surmised from all the romance novels she had read over her 25 years of life - she was in love, with a Human woman no less.

Indeed, Fiona's worst fears had come true. Ever since she was around 12, she found herself more closely attracted to other girls, but it wasn't until her father had told her about the homosexuals that she began trying to supress her feelings. Now, however, the sight of such a beautiful woman had made all of Fiona's feelings flood to the surface, and she could barely keep it in. _No_ , Fiona thought. _This can't go on. I have to fight it. It is nothing more than a sickness, and every sickness has a cure. I just have to find it._

And she would have, were it not for the sound of an explosion breaking her chain of thought.


	8. A Deadly Secret

"At 21:49 yesterday, the Northern Mantle Mining Complex suffered a catastrophic system failure, leading to the release of a large amount of flammable gas that devastated the facility. Corporate officials from the SSC have already secured the site, and an investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing. It is believed that Weiss Schnee, second daughter of Jacques Schnee, will be at-"

Weiss switched the radio off. Just as she did that, her airmouzine stopped at the perimeter that the SSC had set up around the Mining Complex. She exited the vehicle, files and documents in hand, and was approached by a man in a khaki business suit, and the two went along into a nearby building.

"Mister Kha, pleasure to meet you."

"Miss Schnee, I'm glad you could make it so fast. Time is of the essence."

Weiss looked at him with puzzlement.

"Time? What do you mean? Isn't this a simple interrogation?"

"Well, no. You see, the suspect that we apprehended had this."

He discreetly pulled out a rectangular object and showed it to Weiss. It had a leather surface, but it's most interesting detail was the carving of a vertical eye with feathers protruding from it like eyelashes. The relief was made from iron, it seemed, and Weiss instantly recognised it. It was the badge of Salem Argent, the phantom organisation that seemed to be everywhere, always staying three steps ahead of everyone. What was their goal? Really, it was anyone's guess, considering they seemed to change their modus operandi every five seconds or so. One moment they're bribing politicians to pass certian laws that allow them greater control over a certain resource, the next they're supplying Mistralian militias with railguns and hovertanks. But now, something drastic happened. One of their agents was in the custody of the SSC. This was the closest anyone had ever gotten to them, and Weiss was not about to let this opportunity to show her father that her birth was a worthwhile investment slip away.

"Well, let's not waste anymore time, shall we?"

They made their way to the interrogation room. All SSC facilities were equipped with at least one, to ensure every problem of a more social nature was quickly and efficiently dealt with. Kha stepped aside so he could get a good look through the one-way mirror. Weiss continued into the room, where there was a single rectangular table with two chairs on opposing sides and a single TV in the upper corner, pretty standard as far as interrogation rooms went. Weiss inspected the person sitting in the other chair.

It was a Faunus, a woman specifically. She seemed to be 25 years old, just like Weiss herself. Her skin had somewhat darker spots on her arms, legs, stomach and face. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that curled at the end in a peculiar fashion, almost like a chameleon's tail. She was wearing a standard SSC miner's uniform, though Weiss wondered whether she was a registered worker. There was something else about her that was nagging the Schnee. She felt her heart slightly tighten, and she could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. _Is this what a sixth sense feels like? It is unusual, but at least my gut is telling me to be careful._ She sat into the other chair.

"I am Weiss Schnee, second daughte-"

"I know who you are," the Faunus responded. "Everyobody here knows who you are. Just get this over with."

Weiss was taken aback by the non-chalant, uncaring and tired voice of the woman. Usually, whenever she interacted with Faunus, they would treat her with the utmost respect, often to their own detriment. She was grateful for it, but what unnerved her about it was the lack of self-preservation that those Faunus exhibited. There was once an incident where a bat Faunus had to lay themself on the ground just so Weiss would avoid stepping into a puddle of mud. Weiss just couldn't understand how anyone could let people treat them like that. But here with this woman, it was different. She had heard of Faunus rights activists, sure, but she never experienced someone who opposed her father's teaching in such a drastic and passive way.

"Very well," Weiss added. "In that case I'll get straight to the point."

She turned to the one-way mirror and nodded. The TV turned on and played footage from a few hours earlier. It showed a pig Faunus worker in a corridor, being abused by a group of Humans. They were calling her names and annoying her in a way that made the Faunus squeal in distress. Suddenly, a door in the wall flew off its hinges, and from it emerged a sentry robot. It leveled its guns at the Humans and unleashed a barrage of bullets that left the pig Faunus surrounded with the corpses of her abusers, whereas she herself was unharmed. The alarm went off, and the sentry proceeded down the corridor. From the hole in the wall emerged the Faunus sitting in front of Weiss. The recording paused and zoomed in to get a better view of the woman. Weiss then put down the folder she was carrying, and opened it, taking out a piece of paper with the Faunus woman's face on it.

"Ilia Amitola. Formerly a student at Atlas Academy, with top grades and a perfect social behavior score, who suddenly went missing, not long after you were informed of your parents' deaths at the Rickdee Mining Complex. Seems like a good motive to set the Company's own muscle against it."

At this accusation, Ilia turned her head.

"That wasn't me."

"...I beg your pardon."

"Look, I know what the footage shows, but I can assure you, I wasn't behind the robot's attack."

Weiss put the paper down.

"Then I hope you don't mind telling me what were you doing there, then."

Ilia raised her left hand up to her ear, seemingly to grab it. She made a half-nod, and turned to look Weiss eye-to-eye. Weiss noticed that her eyes were a light gray with a faintly bluish tint, and she would be lying if she didn't find them somewhat, entrancing. After a moment of hesitation, Ilia began.

"I'm sure I don't have to explain what Salem Argent is, so I'll preface this with the fact that we - its agents - aren't given context for our orders, ever. We simply do what we are ordered to do. Now, I was tasked with infiltrating this Complex and placing a camera in one of the maintenance rooms - the one on Level 1, to be precise - and leave as soon as I was done. I did the first part flawlessly, no one ever suspected a thing. But then the unthinkable happened, something that, appearently, my superiors never accounted for."

She made a pause to let what she had said sink in, and continued.

"Just as I had set the camera up, the sentry robot that was there for its regular checkup booted up. There was one other person there, a Human mechanic. He was working on some powertools. The robot approached him from behind, and then, uh, sorry, proceeded to shatter his spine, uh, with its legs. When it made sure that he was dead, it turned to me. I thought for sure, it was going to kill me. But no, it simply stared, and then it went to blow the door of its hinges and kill some Humans. I ran out, but the guards caught me and kept me in a cell."

Ilia noticed how Weiss seemed unfazed by her story.

"If you think that this little act you've put on is going to convince me that you're innocent in this matter, I suggest you read a book on how to make a convincing lie. Did you really think that I, daughter of the CEO of the most successful company on Remnant, would not know that SSC-issue sentry robots aren't built with a desire for murder and violence? That's for frontline combat robots."

"I'd beg you to believe me, but you'd probably love that. To see one of my kind on their knees, asking for recognition from their 'betters'. You disgust me. Just throw me in jail so you can get this over with, I imagine someone as high and mighty as you has a lot to worry about."

Weiss was thrown back by the sheer spite in Ilia's answer. She couldn't believe how this woman had managed to challenge her entire worldview _without even trying_. It betrayed a strong sense of justice in Ilia's spirit, and to be honest, Weiss found that impressive, indeed. Very impressive, almost... exciting?

The conversation was interrupted by the door opening. In the frame stood a black-skinned man in a beige trench coat that seemed to be around 40 years old. Ilia stood up at the sight.

"Miss Schnee? I am Dandee Quicksilver, from the Ministry of Police. I am here to take this woman into custody."

Weiss stood up herself, surprised by this new arrival just like Ilia was.

"Wait a minute, this is an official investigation by the Schnee Star Company. You cannot interfere without a warrant or orders from an authority higher than my father."

Dandee pulled a paper from his coat and handed it to Weiss.

"Ma'am, I am on orders from the President of Atlas himself. Give me the suspect, _please_."

From the President of Atlas himself? There were indeed many things that the SSC could do, but defiyng orders from the President was unthinkable in the extreme. He was the one who allowed the corporations to run the country however they saw fit. In a world where the shareholders were kings, he was the emperor.

"Very well."

Ilia walked over to Dandee, who proceeded to take out a pair of cuffs and lock Ilia's arms with them. During this, she and Weiss exchanged a glance. A slight pinkish texture began to form on the spots on Ilia's body, and Weiss' cheeks started looking like peaches. Soon, Dandee took Ilia out of the room and away from Weiss. The Schnee couldn't figure out why, but she felt like something she enjoyed had been taken away from her. If only if it wasn't for that man, Dandee Quicksilver, from the Ministry of Police.

Wait.

"Mister Kha?", Weiss turned to the man as she stepped into the observation room.

"Yes, Miss Schnee?"

"Did the Ministry of Order rename itself?"

* * *

"I can't believe you _still_ use that dumb tactic."

"Don't blame me! Blame these people for believing it in the first place!"

Ilia sighed. She was currently in the back of an airmouzine that bore the insignia of the Atlas Police. Sitting opposite her was Dandee Quicksilver, her mentor, caretaker, and all-around a good friend.

"Oh, I forgot to ask: did we get the robot?"

"It's being moved to Site Delta Green as we speak. I imagine the eggheads are gonna be interested in what we found. Also, I know the answer already, but just to be sure, you didn't spill any sensitive information to the SSC, did you?"

Ilia produced a slight chuckle.

"Of course I didn't. I gave the Schnee a guilt-trip, I was surprised it actually worked! She seemed bewildered, the bitch, hah!"

While Dandee went to answer a phone call, Ilia's smile began to drop. Why did she feel a tinge of guilt for calling the Schnee a bitch? _That's exactly what she is! That's exactly what her entire dynasty always has been and that's what they always will be!_

_Right?_


	9. I Think I Fell From Heaven

Ruby watched as a black airmouzine adorned with the insignia of the Atlas Police passed over her. She had heard stories of such craft back in her village of Patch but she had never seen one in person. In fact, she never would have thought she would see an entire city buzzing with them in all her life. Even though she arrived in Atlas yesterday, she still found the sight breathtaking. She walked through the streets of North Atlas, which was not as busy as other parts of the city, and made her way to a coffee shop she noticed during her trip to the hotel she was staying at. In the shop, there was just a single barista, who seemed busy making a drink for the only customer in the shop, some woman with long copper hair and a black and beige striped vest worn underneath green overalls. Ruby's pace slowed down, so that she could further observe the woman. It took her a few moments to compose her thoughts, after which she took a seat at a nearby table, and took her notebook out of her bag. She began sketching various doodles, ranging from roses and the Grim Reaper to an image of her sister, Yang, in a loving embrace with her girlfriend, Blake.

The two had met three years ago, when the two sisters were in the city of Vale for the Vytal Festival, Vale's national holiday of life and harmony. Blake came from a family of Faunus from the continent of Menagerie, where most of Faunuskind resided. Blake, appearently, decided that she would stay in Vale, appearently to start a new chapter in her life. Yang offered her a place in Patch, Blake agreed, the two soon realised that they shared a love for many things in common, one thing led to another, and eventually, they confessed their love for each other and entered a relationship.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she noticed a woman standing in front of her. Coincidentally, it was the same woman she saw earlier.

"Salutations! I noticed you were all by yourself! And I was wondering if you would enjoy some company!"

"Oh! Um, sure?"

"Splendid!"

She sat into the chair opposite to Ruby.

"I'm Penny, by the way. Penny Polendina," she said as she stretched her hand out.

"Ruby Rose."

They shook their hands.

"So, what are you doing?"

"I'm just drawing some stuff. You wanna see?"

"Yes!"

Ruby showed her the drawings she made, explaining the ideas behind each of them. After she explained the deal with the drawing of Blake and Yang, Penny spoke.

"You speak of your half-sister's girlfriend with a different tone. Is there a reason for that?"

Ruby was taken aback. _She could tell?_

"Well, uh, to be honest, I'm a little jealous of my half-sister, which is very unusual by itself, considering the two of us get along amazingly well. But the fact remains that I really like Blake. I'm not madly in love with the woman, don't get me wrong! But, I find her very, _very_ pretty."

Ruby sighed.

"I yearn for someone like that in my life."

Penny blinked a few times.

"You want to be with another woman? Romantically?"

Ruby glanced at Penny. She had a quizzical expression, and it looked _adorable_.

"Yes, I do, I suppose."

"That is possible now?"

"Uh, yeah? If you want to, you can do that. What do you not understand?"

Penny's eyes raced across the room, and then she stood up.

"I apologise, but I must be taking my leave. Thank you for letting me be in your company."

She walked out of the shop, leaving Ruby confused. _What was that all about? Who is this Penny Polendina? Will I ever see her again? Brothers, I hope I do!_

Ruby chuckled softly at her own thought process. She truly had the most spontaneous mind. Though, that last thought lingered on her mind. The woman's face was still fresh in her memory, and to Ruby, it seemed like a painting of an angel.

* * *

Penny opened the door of the laboratory. Her creator and 'father', Pietro, was watering the plants on the main workbench when he noticed her.

"Ah, Penny! You're back! How has your day been?"

Pietro immediately noticed how his daughter seemed pensive.

"Father? I was wondering: is it possible for a woman to, uh, like another woman?"

Pietro internally sighed. 25 years of existence, and he never got around to having 'the talk' with his daughter. He thought that, since she wasn't a flesh-and-blood creature, he wouldn't have to.

Wait.

"Father."

_Is she saying what I think she's saying?_

"I think that..."

_By the Brothers, could it be?_

"...I might have feelings for another girl."

At the sound of proof that his creation had achieved true emotion, Pietro fainted.


	10. Shadow Council

Three figures sat at a triangular table the colour of polished obsidian. They each wore special suits meant to protect them from any possible scanning technology or secret cameras that might have been placed in the room. Of course, that was most certainly impossible, considering the nature of the location, but it never hurt to take precautions. The figure in the white suit spoke first, its voice heavily distorted to sound robotic as yet another security measure.

"My fellows, I would say that I come with dire news, but I'm sure you know already. All that we need to discuss is just how far this goes. I'll go first."

The figure touched the table, and a touchscreen keyboard appeared. It typed something into it, and a hologram appeared in the center of the table. It was potrayed as three screens that connected at the edges, and each faced one of the figures. On the screen was a screenshot of a green hand coming out of a stone wall.

"It took 25 years, but the information on the incident at the Rickdee Mining Complex of 1995 is finally ours."

The figure typed into the keyboard, and the screen changed to that of a green blur moving through a corridor as panicked workers jumped to get out of its way.

"What witnesses we could interrogate told us how the entity had the appearance of a woman made of green crystal. The information from the Schee Star Company's main database in Solitas also said how the entity was examined to have fully-formed fingerprints which did not correspond to any known person, living or deceased."

After typing once more, the screens showed a recording. It was an SSC training area, where a group of seven Faunus were standing with their backs to the wall. Two engineers were activating one of the new Atlesian Knight combat droids. As the machine turned on, it slowly raised the gun it held in its right arm, while the Faunus clustered together in fear. Then, the droid pointed the gun to one of the engineers, and shot him. It killed the other quickly, and then proceeded to shoot the sentry turrets that were making sure that the Faunus stayed in position. The figure in white typed some more, and the footage from Northern Mantle Mining Complex played, showcasing a combat droid shooting at a group of Humans, while keeping a pig Faunus untouched.

"Aside from that entity, Solitas has also been experiencing numerous combat droid malfunctions. The first footage was recovered from Schnee databanks and was dated to the 11th of February, 2010, while the second was taken yesterday, during the incident at the Northern Mantle Mining Complex. There are more reports of machines having such severe malfunctions, ranging from refusing to refer to Mistralian nobility as 'sir' or 'madam', to outright murdering their owners. Curiously, none of these incidents involved Faunus casualties. In fact, the people under my command think that they may be protecting the Faunus, as was seen from a recording taken on a cotton plantation in Northern Vale where the defense robots went around breaking the chains of the Faunus slaves."

The figure in the yellow suit made a slight chuckle. The figure in the green suit then proceeded to type on its own keyboard, which replaced the images on the screen with the footage of the Vale countryside, where an alien lifeform shimmered out of existence in a prismatic light.

"My part of the organisation finally managed to recover the footage taken by Dr. Sheldon Ryth. 15 years, and only now do we have full access. I cannot understand how we have been unable to get all this earlier, considering we effectively rule the solar system. We need a serious check-up of our facilities. But, anyway, as you can see, it would appear that Dr. Ryth had known about the Roachmen several years before we had detected them, which means that either the people under out command are inexplicably incompetent, or Dr. Ryth is much more capable than we've been led to believe. I would like to start an investigation into the matter, and I'll say this just once, it better be the latter."

"You input is appreciated, Green," answered the figure in white. "Yellow?"

"Well, I'm happy to report that, aside from these incidents with the machines that have already been mentioned, everything is going perfectly fine! The supplies to the White Fang are proceeding smoothly, the Kingdom of Menagerie is slowly beggining to let robots onto their land, and we've even established a permanent base of operations on the continent of Salem. Hopefully, the ruins there will let us better understand the Nuckelavee Artifact we found outside Kuroyuri village."

"Excellent news," spoke White. "Now, let's get into the more mundane parts of our careers. Namely, the logistics."

"Oh dear," sighed Yellow.

* * *

Far away, among the asteroid belt known as the Ring of Ozma, which stood on the edge of the solar system, a single machine floated among the debris. Blocky in design, it made passive scans of the surrounding space. During the 4 years after it completed its journey to this point in the solar system, its scanners always reported the same thing - rocks, ice and other materials that made up such bodies. It probably would have continued to do so unto eternity, eventually forgotten by those who built it, and left to be claimed by the inexorable advance of universal entropy. But, the universe had other plans for it.

The scanners detected something flat. Not like some of the irregular asteroids it had come to know over the years, but something that had obviously been cut and polished with intent and precision. Immediately, it began preparing a report of the foreign object as it entered its scanning range. Eight flat surfaces, like two pyramids that connected at the bottom with the one in the front being thrice longer than the one in the back, made from unknown material.

Then, a rectangular surface opened underneath the object. Grey light came from it, and slowly the machine moved to the source. Just before the surface closed, the machine emitted its report in the form of a radio message, which would need approximately 5.54 hours to get to Remnant. As the emission of the information was complete, the surface closed entirely, leaving the machine in total darkness.


	11. Corruption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not posting, I had stuff at home to deal with. Anyways, on with the show!

Robyn paced the halls of the old warehouse she called home. There were various boxes strewn around, containing all kinds of scrap people had abandoned over the years. She made her way to the table in the middle of the room, where two other women were assembled. One was a fair-skinned woman with medium blue hair, a long ponytail, and yellow eyes, while the other was a tall, tanned woman with masculine features with short dark green hair, beige eyes and tattoos on her nose and forehead. They were both wearing maid outfits, which revealed large parts of their skin. They were taking them off.

"Boss," called the blue-haired one, "I truly hope you never, ever, _ever_ , make us do something like that again."

"I swear, if that creep at the door made one more comment about my face, I would have slapped him," commented the green-haired one.

Robyn chuckled.

"Hopefully, you'll be able to soon enough, Joanna. Now, I trust you have what I asked for?"

"Yeah, May has it."

May reached for a part of her outfit near her hips, where a pocket was located. From within, she produced a rectangular device about the size of a finger. She handed it to Robyn, who quickly took it to the table, on which there was a computer. Robyn removed the lid from the device, and plugged it into one of the countless sockets that lined the massive boxy machine that served as the place where a variety of external devices could connect to the computer. After setting everything up, Robyn accessed the files on the device, and she kept searching until she found what she was looking for. She was quickly joined by May and Joanna, who had changed into casual clothes. Well, as casual as one could get in Solitas, where the cold seeped in everywhere. Joanna took a look at what got Robyn so interested, and as she read the information, her disgust grew.

"By the Brother Gods, can they get any more like a Saturday morning cartoon villain? What is this, phrenology reports, 'How To Keep Your Faunus In Working Order' book sales, _baby factory production quotas!?_ Fucking disgusting. I can't watch that shit."

"Well, too bad, we'll be seeing it in person. From here, we'll write down all places that uphold these disgusting policies, and then we'll wipe them from the face of Remnant. Our voices will be heard, and the Corporations will _have_ to listen to us then," spoke Robyn.

"I'm still wondering how they didn't catch us in the act," May noted. "I mean, two maids going in to clean the server room at the HQ of Thyme Dynamics should have been suspicious as fuck. And they just let us?"

"Your acting was pretty convincing," commented Robyn. "It managed to trick them because of their insistence that women can't possibly understand computers, so they couldn't possibly hack the server room. Plus, they must have been too busy drooling over those cute outfits of yours to think straight."

The three chuckled. May found it especially funny, considering she never would have become the woman she is if she was thinking 'straight', or at least heteronormatively. Robyn went to work on writing down the names of all the places they would burn, May went to contact the others, and Joanna started inspecting their inventory, to make sure they had everything.

* * *

"Take two of these every day before each meal. Make sure you never skip them, and come to me every Friday for a check-up. Don't worry, we'll fix you before you know it!"

Those words resonated in her head as she made her way out of the Conversion Center on Fracker's Street. _It's fine, everything is alright, Fiona. You have the answer to all your ills in your bag. Everything will be fine, so long as nobody notic-_

"Hey, Faunus!"

Fiona turned quickly to look at who said that. What she saw was a group of several upper-class people her age surrounding her before she even registered what was happening.

"We saw you exit that building. Are we correct in assuming that you are a homosexual?"

Fiona found herself gasing for air. _Who are these people? Why are they doing this to me?_

"Um, I suppose?"

The man that asked adopted a bewildered face.

"You suppose? _You suppose!?_ Is it not obvious? We saw you put those pills in your bag!"

"I'm sorry, who are you and what do you want from me?"

"Who we are is no concern of yours. As for what we want, we just want you to understand that no matter how many pill you consume, no matter which treatments you take, your souls will remain eternally damned. Only death can truly purify you in the eye of the God of Light."

"Ahem."

Everyone snapped at attention to face the new voice. It was none other than Nave Thyme himself.

"Nave Thyme? Nave Thyme! By the Brothers, it is a pleasure to see you here! I alw-"

"I'm afraid I have no time for interviews and the like. Fiona, come with me," he spoke, pointing with his thumb behind his back to the airmouzine that hovered over the pavement.

Realization dawned on the young man. He made a small nod to Fiona.

"My sincerest apologies. I had no idea."

Fiona eyed him top to bottom, and proceeded to the airmouzine.

After the airmouzine had already left for the skies, Nave addressed Fiona.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Fiona suddenly became aware of the sweat on her face and the awful feeling in her abdomen. It wasn't painful, it was like an omen of impending doom. She took in a deep breath.

"I think I might be homosexual."

The silence was worse than if Nave had gone into a fit of rage, because at least then she would have known his thoughts and feelings on the matter, and she was used to people yelling at her. But this, this was an insufferable unknown.

"So that's why you left the house without an escort. Because you didn't want people to easily recognize you."

"...yes."

More silence. Fiona swore it felt like her brain was bleeding.

"...you will speak of this to no one. Not even your family. Understood?"

She felt a slight relief at the though of her curse being kept a secret by none other than her adoptive father. If there was one positive thing that could be said about Nave Thyme, it was that he never broke a promise. He might have been a liar, a cheat and a generally bad person, but when he made a commitment, he stuck to it until the end. That's what got him this far, and he'd be damned of he was going to stop now.

The rest of the flight to their residence was quiet. A thought jumped into Fiona's head, a memory of a platinum blonde woman with the most exquisite pair of dark purple eyes she had ever seen. A strong-willed spirit that, that...

_Oh, fuck. It's happening again._


	12. Under The Hierophant's Shadow

The blue light of the lamp cast its illumination onto the desk at which Weiss sat, papers, books and files strewn about, while the computer buzzed irritatingly from the sheer amount of information it was displaying. Computers in Atlas were the most advanced in the entire solar system, but there were still drawbacks, like how only a single file could be viewed at a time, although there was a tab system so you could have multiple files available for immediate access. As the Schnee groaned in exhaustion over all the work, the mahogany door to her room opened, and the head of her brother, Whitley, peeked out.

"Ahem. Sister?"

_Great._

"What do you want, Whitley?", Weiss asked with palpable passive aggression.

"Oh, not much. I just wanted to tell you how one of the Company's deep space satellites has gone missing."

Weiss' mood changed from quasi-suicidal to genuinely interested. She didn't actually need to finish all the work she had been assigned, she just wanted to finish it as soon as possible. Therefore, she could take a break to discuss this, as astronomy was a passion of hers that her father's company happened to profit from.

"Alright, what do you have?"

Whitley fully entered the room and sat on Weiss' bed. In his lap, he placed the briefcase he was carrying, opened it, and showed the inside to Weiss. It was a computer integrated into the case, and it showed a pixelated starchart of the northern skies of Remnant. Dots trailed across it, leaving streaks of white behind them. These were various satellites the Schnee Star Company had successfully launched and deployed. One of the dots suddenly dissapeared, and its trail simply stopped.

"This is where the satellite we called Charybdis dissapeared, and just before we lost contact it sent out this message. Wait just a moment."

Whitley typed something into the keyboard, and the image changed into that of an object of obviously artificial origin among a field of asteroids and space debris. Eight flat surfaces, like two pyramids that connected at the bottom with the one in the front being thrice longer than the one in the back, made from unknown material. The resolution was still awful, meaning that it could have simply been an irregular asteoid that had collided with the satellite, but it was still worth exploring.

Weiss moved from her chair to her bed, and inspected the readings on the device. She completely immersed herself in it, and all the while she didn't notice how Whitley didn't leave the room. It took her a full two minutes to notice.

"...is there something else?"

Whitley took on a pensive posture. Weiss was suddenly much more interested in this, as Whitley never behaved like this.

"Father has been growing increasingly, uh, _hostile_ , as the number of reports of SSC robots disobeying their masters has increased. You know how he likes to destroy things when he gets mad. Or hurt people."

Weiss' eyes widened.

"What did he do?"

"Well, he yelled at me."

There was silence for a few seconds. Before Weiss could say anything, and it did seem like she was going to explore with anger, Whitley continued.

"You know how he would never harm me, as I will be the one to inherit the Company, but the mere fact that he got mad at me means that he's becoming more dangerous than ever."

Weiss scoffed.

"And why exactly should you care? You haven't been of great help previously in my life, why start now?"

"It's because I was scared of how Father might have responded, but now that this has happened, I'm afraid he might cross a line."

Weiss pulled her sleeve up revealing an arm full of scars and bruises inflicted upon her by her father.

" _This_ isn't crossing a line? You're telling me that this _wasn't_ too much by itself!?"

"Weiss, please! I'm doing this because I actually care about you!"

Silence again.

"I know it doesn't look like it, at all, but I don't want to see you hurt. I may not have been the best at articulating this, but you don't deserve what has been happening to you, nobody does! Well, except Father."

Weiss was taken aback by that statement. Whitley was always known as Father's pet, his pride and joy of the family. And he had thoughts like this?

"...you mean that?"

Whitley took her arm in his.

"I do."

Weiss pondered his words for a moment, and then asked:

"Wait, what exactly led you down this road? What could have possibly made you change your mind o-"

She was interrupted by the monotonous sound of Whitley's communicator. He inspected it, and turned to Weiss.

"Ah, I am needed at a meeting with the company shareholders. It's urgent."

He pulled Weiss into a tight hug, and then left, leaving Weiss with the computer, which had just finished fixing its resolution, and now showed a smooth object that looked like nothing the people of Remnant had ever built. One thing was certain though: it was definitely not an asteroid.

* * *

Ilia was sprawled over her bed, incense smoke floating into the night sky over her. She could see the stormy clouds begin to form, so she pressed a button on her right night stand, and the platform on which the bed was located begin to move inside the house. She liked how the platform just jutted over a massive cliff without any support. Sure, there were the steel bars in the structure of the house that helped pull the platform in, but there was something so adrenaline-inducing about the fact that you could easily fall to your death. It helped keep her on edge and alert at all times. As the walls closed in to keep the rain from pouring in, she extinguished the incense and took a look at the photo in her left hand. It was a cutout from a newspaper article about the destruction of the Northern Mantle Mining Complex, specifically the attached photo of Weiss Schnee, heir to the SSC.

Ilia mentally scoffed at the sight. This woman was one of the eligible heirs to the company that had caused the Faunus so much pain and suffering, so much anguish and so much sadness. She couldn't believe that she was here, in an expensive house afforded by her salary from being an agent for Salem Argent, ensuring that the current world order was upheld. Why did she agree to serve them? Because she had nowhere else to go, because her parents, the only source of motivation in her life, were gone. Because there was no such thing as an active resistance against the Schnee Star Company. Sure, there was the White Fang, who sought to end Faunus oppression once and for all, but it was spread over the world, and its leaders were in constant conflict with one another. Not to mention that the Federal Union of Atlas _heavily_ monitored any and all Faunus who left the country precisely because they might join the Fang, or a similar terrorist group. Therefore, if you can't beat them, join them.

So here she was now, laying in a bed made from the most expensive fabric money could buy, with a photo of a person she loathed with all her heart, even though she had never met her. She wanted to, though, in a strange way. To meet her, talk to her about all the shit her father's company had put the Faunus through, to burn it to the ground, and then kiss her-

_Wait. What the fuck?_

Ilia raised herself, and stared at the photo. _Why the fuck would I think that? Why would I kiss this, this bitch? She's only pretty because she had to be for the press, it's not like I want to caress her face with my fingers, or find out what her skin tastes like, or, or..._

Ilia's spots became visible in a bright shade of pink.

 _...well, fuck my_ _life_.


	13. An Iron Judgement

A massive row of cubicles lined the wall of the room, people entering and exiting them in a rush. Ruby noticed how people in Atlas seemed much more busy and stressed out than in Vale. Wherever she was, she noticed how the people were either hurriedly walking somewhere, or working on something that seemed important. Like that time she was on a public transport and was sitting in between a 30-something-year-old man writing some calculations on a piece of paper and muttering something to himself, and a 20-something-year-old that had the most soulless look Ruby had ever seen. She wasn't certain, but she's pretty sure that the young man's hands were shaking.

A platinum-blond woman in a brownish coat made her way out of one of the cubicles, meaning that Ruby could now go in. She closed the door behind her, and took a seat in the chair that stood in front of the person-sized computer. She took her wallet out, and put a hundred-Lien bill into the machine's deposit slot, and typed into the keyboard. After a few moments, an image appeared on the screen. It was none other than Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's half-sister.

"Rubes! Y'a hear me?"

Ruby chuckled.

"Loud and clear, Yang!"

"Wow, how long has it been, a day since you left for Atlas? Damn, too bad you weren't here for when Tai tried to handle a bull and ended up breaking his arm! Hah, you should have seen that!"

"Yang! Don't be - forgive me, Brothers - an ass! What if you had a broken arm, huh? Would you be making fun of that?"

"Oh, yes, I would. I definitely would. Not even joking."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Well, anyway, aside from the fact that our dad broke his arm, how are things?"

"Gonna be honest, not good. The bi-annual supply convoy from the city of Vale only brought in half of the supplies we usually get, and they haven't even told us why. Not to mention, there's been a sighting of some kind of, uh, _thing_ lurking around the village. People say it looks like some kind of super tall squid thing with a square for a head. I'm sure it's just a rumour that some asshole started to scare people in a trying time. Even Blake believes it, for some reason."

"That's because I actually saw it."

Yang moved aside on her end of the transmission so she could let a black-haired cat Faunus sit in the other chair next to her. It was none other than Blake Belladona, Yang's lover. Ruby felt a slight tightening in her chest.

"Oh, um, hey, Blake!"

"Hiya, babe," Yang spoke, and then pulled Blake in for a short but sweet lip kiss. Ruby looked away, blushing.

"Hi, Ruby. But I am serious, though. That thing, whatever it is, is somewhere out there."

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe whoever started this is really into it. But whatever, it's not like Patch can't keep itself safe. If it goes too far, we'll go for the pitchforks and torches! But enough about us, tell us what you've been up to!"

"Ah, well, I rented an apartment in a street that's somewhere between the inner city and the outer slums."

"Is it as bad as they say in the news?", Blake interjected. Ruby's mood changed to that of moderate sadness.

"Unfortunately, yes. Every single Faunus I walked past made sure to keep a distance of at least a meter, and none of the poor people I saw were Human. To make things worse, I now have to go through multiple checkpoints that the government set up because of the explosion in the local mining complex. Oh, let me tell you, those guards on the checkpoints, they aren't nice to people, and they don't care about our well-being. And yet they still think they can do whatever they want with us."

Yang furrowed her brows and bared her teeth.

"If they hurt you, I swear I'm getting a ticket to Atlas and beating them up myself."

"No, no, it's fine! I can handle myself. It wasn't anything serious, just some _nasty_ comments. Nothing I can't forget by swimming around in my imagination!"

Blake placed her hand on Yang's shoulder, which managed to calm the blonde down.

"Oh, there was one other thing! Yesterday, I was in this coffee shop near where my apartment is, and there I met this woman about my age that seemed really interested in my drawings. Her name was Penny Polendina, if I remember right. Oh, you should have seen her! Her hair looked just like copper, and those eyes, like emeralds or something. Also, her voice was like song, did I mention that? And the freckles! Those adorable freckles! I just, I, I..."

Yang and Blake watched on in silence, mild surprise on their faces.

"...I'm in love with her."

* * *

"Father?"

Penny peeked from the wooden door that led into Pietro's room. His house was a lodge in the tundra of Solitas, just outside the slums on the outskirts of Mantle, halfway between that city and Atlas. The two were really a conurbation, so there wasn't much difference. Pietro looked up from his book, the light from the fire in the chimney providing ample light.

"Ah, Penny! What do you need?"

Penny walked into the room and sat herself on the pillow that lay near the fireplace.

"You're not angry at me?"

Pietro put aside his book and rose from his lying position into sitting one.

"What could possibly make you say that? Angry about what?"

Penny adopted a confused look.

"You passed out yesterday because I said that I had fallen in love with a girl. I assumed it was because you couldn't believe that your own creation turned so rotten."

Pietro's jaw dropped.

"Rotten? _Rotten?_ Who says you're rotten? Where did you get that idea?"

Penny turned to look at the fire.

"I wasn't expecting this reaction from you. I thought that you were going to dismantle me eventually."

Wheels turned in Pietro's head, piecing the puzzle together. When he finished it, he sighed.

"It's because you witnessed hateful behaviour from the government officials you accompanied."

"I remember when they took me for examination to some facility outside of Atlas. The men I was following led me into a room where I was supposed to be examined by a psychologist, but we stumbled into said psychologist engaging in a kiss with another man, who was apparently the facility's overseer."

She shuddered.

"The sheer, uh, _energy_ in the profanities that came from the mouth of one of my escorts is something I don't think even a system reset would make me forget. The men around me all piled inside and started beating the psychologist and the overseer, and the one who yelled the profanities closed the door so he could tell me that my psychological evaluation was going to be rescheduled."

"This was between your 11th and 15th year, wasn't it? When you were taken from me so the Federal Union government could see whether you were an asset or a threat. That's also why you never wanted to talk to me about those years."

Penny turned to Pietro, upset growing on her face.

"That was merely the first. The following years, I was told all about the position of people in Atlesian society, of the roles they must fulfill, of all the expectations, and so on. They made it especially clear that any deviant behaviour is what leads to ruin and devastation. They said how two people of incompatible make cannot make a family, which is the cornerstone of the country. They even showed me recordings of what happens when you are caught being a deviant."

Penny's eyes began to water with an artificial compound intended to clean her eyes.

"Those people, those poor people, they didn't have to suffer like that! Why couldn't they have just, ju-"

Before Penny could finish her sentence, Pietro was already with her, keeping her in a deep hug.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea you had to go through all of this. But, if you went through all that, why did you ask me whether two women loving each other was possible?"

Penny wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I, I wanted to see what you thought about it! I thought that, since you're always so cheerful, you'd understand, or maybe help me fix my flaws."

Pietro broke away from the hug, keeping his arm on Penny.

"Hey, now you listen here! The fact that you find women attractive is in no way a flaw. Just because society says you are a mistake doesn't mean they're right! After all, it's not as if society is some eldritch deity to which we have to sacrifice people so we can have good crops, no sir! _You_ are amazing and wonderful just the way you are, and nobody is going to take that away from you. Hm, maybe I should give you some books about GRSM issues to study. I even have science and engineering books that support that community's existence!"

Penny smiled.

"Father?"

She pulled him into a tight hug, which he returned.

" _Thank you_."

Pietro chuckled softly.

"Now that we have that cleared up, would you like to tell me about this girl that's gotten you so smitten?"

Penny's irises constricted, and the red-coloured fluid running through the artificial veins rushed into her cheeks.


	14. The Call of Trumpets

Wolves howled into the night, their sounds bouncing off the mountains of Mistral and creating an echo that filled the air of the night under the full moon. In the valley between the mountains, a single hovertruck moved over the asphalt road, which had slightly cracked due to years of lack of maintenance. In the truck's driving compartment were two people: a cat Faunus and a Human from Atlas.

"Hey, do you have any cigarettes?", the Human inquired.

The Faunus remained silent, her ears moving to face the window on the door on her side of the truck in an attempt to ignore the driver.

"...okay, listen here. I have had an incredibly exhausting day today. First, I had to go make sure that a local power plant reached critical meltdown to cause a riot in the nearby town. Then, I had to go make sure the riot got so out of control that soldiers from the nearby military base had to interfere. Then I had to drag my ass all the way to the other side of the continent, only to learn that I have to spend a _fucking week_ pulling whatever the hell is in the back of the truck all the way from Kuroyuri to the continent of Salem, all while taking the _l_ _ong route_. Can't you at least give me an answer?"

"I don't like your tone."

The Human calmed for a moment.

"What?"

"I said I don't like your tone. It's irritating, and harsh, and it's giving me so many negative vibes."

"Negative vibes? Oh for fuck's sake, I'm stuck with a Demodernisationist!"

The cat Faunus turned to him with anger in her eyes.

"It's an expression, dumbass! Do you call _anyone_ who mentions anything even slightly non-scientific a 'Demodernisationist'? Your fucking Logicalism or whatever you call your shitty 'ideology' is the reason nobody in Salem Argent wants to be your partner!"

"You think I care!? You think I want other people with me!? You all just slow me down because, for some reason, you just aren't able to see the truth of this world like I do-"

His rant was interrupted by a sudden jolt of the truck's cabin. The vehicle stopped entirely, and the two in the cabin noticed several figures approaching them from the sides. They both reached for their guns, but when they got a closer look at the beings, they realised that they had generally insectoid appearances and bone-white skin. From what they could make out of their faces, the creatures closing in on them had two milky eyes shaped like almonds. There was a thin sac-like protrusion on their backs, filled with a rainbow-coloured fluid. The most disturbing part of their appearences, at least to the Faunus and the Human, were their six limbs: four legs and two arms. The Salem Argent agents aimed their guns at the creatures, but before either of them could pull the trigger, they were hit by some sort of foamy substance which engulfed their faces. They tried taking it off, but they only got their hands stuck. Slowly, they lost consciousness.

* * *

The storm wracked sky roared with the sound of thunder, even as the blue sun shined through what little holes in the cloud cover it could find. Beneath, a city of obsidian spires lined with scarlet lights stood in deathly silence, the only sound being the echoes of the raging inferno above it. In the very center of the city, a basilica prostrated itself around a cupola that, unlike the rest of the city, was made of a glass-like substance on which were paintings depicting an interconnected web of thorny spheres. Inside the cupola, a dark blue owl-like creature with four wing-like appendages moved through a massive hall whose walls depicted images of similar beings performing various actions. One, for example, lead an army, while another was touching a formless mass that outstretched its appendages across the wall. Eventually, it reached its destination: a wide room directly beneath the cupola, where only a single throne stood. On it was another one of the creatures that evolved on this world, but with longer feathers, and paler in colour. The younger one bowed respectively, and spoke.

"Monarch, I bring news from beyond K'Tashania."

The old creature gazed upon the the young one, its eyes growing grey with age. It summoned what strength it could, and continued the conversation.

"What have I decreed about making contact with our old holdings beyond the birthworld? You have given me cause to execute you for endangerement of our species."

"I did not go to the stars above. Rather, they came to me. One of our old holdings upon a world we called Ozma sent us a report of a security breach."

The old one coughed.

"So? Our holdings were left abandoned, easy prey for scavangers and looters of other species."

"No, Monarch, the holding I speak of was the one in charge of, of..."

The young one gulped.

"Paranormal Artifact J-1NN."

The old one's eyelides raised themselves slowly as the Monarch processed what was said.

"No. Who could have possibly broken the seals on its containment chamber?"

"Unknown, but that's not all. The Far Space Sensor Array, the one on the very edge of our sun's gravity well, detected ships belonging to the Imposers moving en masse to the star that Ozma orbits."

The old one held their chin with their upper right appendage, their fingers sporting crooked claws.

"Then we must send a force to aquire the object, and ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong claws, especially those of the Imposers. We know little about them, divining what they intend on doing with J-1NN is impossible."

The Monarch reached for their upper left armrest and pressed a button on it.

"Summon the Guardian Council. Tell them that I utter the following word: **sarkokur**. They'll understand."


	15. Yearning Hearts and Dreaming Locusts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, HOLY FUCK am I sorry for not uploading. There has been so much happening in my life lately, and I wasn't able to post content for a whole month now. I apologize for the wait, but now all is well. I'm back, and y'all can expect more frequent uploads until further notice.

As the full moon hung in the night sky like a silver eye gazing upon the world, its view was abstructed by a thick pillar of smoke. The building from which it came was in ruins, pieces of it spread across the snowy forest, and firefighters were trying desperatly to put out the flames. About a kilometer away, three masked figures trekked through the snow, until they finally reached a vehicle parked on the side of a road. They entered the vehicle and drove away.

"Yes, yes, YES! Eat shit, bitches!", screamed May as she showed her middle finger in the general direction of the pace they just set on fire. She sighed, and turned to Robyn, who sat next to her. All three removed their masks.

"And with that, ladies, Thyme Dynamics is gonna find that 'How To Keep Your Faunus In Working Order' book sales are about to experience a significant drop. No books means no supply, no supply means no demand, no demand means no profit. Okay, so that's two down. We destroyed the building that housed the single largest office of the International Phrenology Association, and now we've wrecked the only factory that printed those damned books. Next up, the, oh... the _baby factories_."

Everyone cringed when the phrase was said. Truly, this was cursed work, and yet it had to be done, if the people of this world were to live to see a better tomorrow.

"Hey, you didn't forget to keep one, did you?", inquired Joanna.

"Oh, there's no way in Hell I was going to leave behind history to be forgotten like this," Robyn answered as she raised a copy of the book 'How To Keep Your Faunus In Working Order' in her left hand.

"Even if everyone who currently has a book like that decides to throw it away, we'll still have one, so that this disguting part of our history is never forgot-"

Her speech was interrupted when she noticed something on her arm. It was a crack, like broken glass, and it revealed a crystal structure the colour of green opal.

Joanna asked: "You okay?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, I am. My mind just wandered. Won't happen again."

She put the book down and hid her wound beneath her sleeve.

_How is this possible? I couldn't have possibly scratched myself against debris, I would have felt it. Did I hurt myself on accident? No, I'm too skillful for that. Is it the cold? It's never bothered me before. Really, the only reason that I would crack up like this would be if, if..._

Robyn's eyes widened. She took a better look at the crack. It wasn't just a random pattern, it had the appearance of an eight-pointed star. It was the pattern that showed up any time there was another of her kind nearby. _Of course_ , she thought. _How could I forget?_

Robyn focused her senses, cutting out the rest of the universe around her. Her thoughts faded into near-blackness, and then her mind lit up as her awareness was expanded beyond the limits of her mortal body, and across the planet. In an instant, she saw many things: children playing among trees, a parade in a city, a wedding, a massive hole in the ground... _there_.

She found it. It was some sort of container, a square-like structure the colour of charcoal, with little red lights arranged in a neat way, like a rectangle. The top of the object was opened, and around it were seven dead creatures. They had generally insectoid appearance and bone-white skin, two milky eyes shaped like almonds, and there were thin sac-like protrusions on their backs, filled with a rainbow-coloured fluid. Robyn counted their limbs: four legs and two arms. _I know these beings._ She noticed the hole in the wall, which was made of adamantium, according to her senses. It led into a forest outside Mantle, and over in the distance Robyn could see a large mansion, which she recognized as belonging to Nave Thyme, CEO of Thyme Dynamics.

_Wait, isn't he the father of-_

Before she could finish her thought process, she saw a light blue mass moving through the pine trees towards the mansion. There was no way she could make it there in time, even in her non-Human form. She would have to just wait and see what the creature does.

But Robyn was certain that, if it tried to hurt Fiona, it would not live to see the light of day.

_...why did I think that?_

Fortunately, the being took a turn to the left, and went down a path that missed the mansion by about a kilometer. Robyn sighed, but her anxiety remained. Whatever this being was, she needed to understand what its motives were, and stop it if needed. After all, if the being was who she thought it was, then that meant that Robyn's people were coming.

* * *

Despite the uneventful day, Fiona couldn't sleep. Whenever that happened to her, she went for a stroll in the mansion's garden. The full moon made the stroll even more enjoyable, illuminating the premises and giving her enough light to read a book, which always brought her happiness. The one she picked this time was some book she had never heard of before, an assembled collection of essays and writing written by some Vale scholar from the 1930s. He went by the name Standford Ryth Starcraft. Fiona opened the book on the page and began reading.

The first few letters were quite short, detailing Starcraft's preparations for a solitary expedition in 1931 to the continent of Salem, the so called 'Cursed Land', as any and every soul that went there never came back. Somehow, Starcraft did. He goes on explaining his travel through the continent, describing landscapes of 'scorched earth and smoky sand which smelt like a hospital - bland, sterile, and without a hint of personality.' The following bulk of letters was filled with images of ruins and abandoned cities that reminded her of Mantle and Atlas, both of which were dominated by skyscrapers.

_Wait a minute._

Fiona inspected the drawings. Her eyes weren't deceiving her: those were skyscrapers, black like charcoal and, apparently, still standing even after hundreds of millenia of idleness, according to Starcraft. It was insane to her, that there could be such great buildings at a time when Humans - and Faunus - were simple hunter-gatherers. The idea was so utterly ludicrous that Fiona was somewhat grateful that the book she was reading was from the fiction section of the mansion's library. She continued reading, until the book abruptly came to an end. There was an editor's note, stating how Starcraft's letters had abruptly ended after a month of trekking through the continent of Salem. He returned a year later, muttering about geometries and natural laws unknown to the world. Two years later, he died at the age of 42, from unknown causes, leaving behind a wife and a daughter. The final page of the book featured a sketch that was found among Starcraft's possessions.

The sketch protrayed a circle inside of which there was a vertical line that was thicker in the center than on the edges, like a reptillian eye. There was no pupil, and the sclera of the eye was coloured like a rainbow, every single colour on the visible light spectrum present in the sketch. An extremely detailed array of images surrounded the circle, picturing creatures with anxiety-inducing visages. A crustacean with bird feet instead of claws on the left, fire that was arranged in the shape of a bird-like being with scythes in place of wings on the right, a writhing mass of matter the colour of bronze and grey on the top, and a single angel-like being on the bottom the colour of green opal. The last of these sketches was of particular interest to Fiona, as the angel had a Human face, one that seemed oddly familiar. Despite the consistent colour scheme, there was a sheen of platinum blonde across what Fiona assumed was the being's head. The eyes were purple, and the face had a shape that Fiona swore she had seen before.

_Oh, I remember now! That's Viridopa, Angel of Justice and one of the Brides of the God of Light! Of course, how silly of me, to forget such an important figure. Makes sense, Faunus brains aren't as developed as Human ones, as expected. Better not tell anyone, no need to have them worry about my inferior body failing me, hah! Heh..._

Hold on.

Platinum hair. Purple eyes. A facial structure that Fiona, admittedly, found very pleasing. That was a great description of-

_Robyn?_

Fiona felt her cheeks flush with blood. Robyn, Robyn Hill? _The_ Robyn Hill? The unladylike woman who strolled into her adoptive father's office like she lived there, protested against the company's treatment of Faunus, and revealed to Fiona that she was a homosexual just by being there? _She_ looked exactly the same as one of the God of Light's angel-brides?

_But she's an exact antithesis to everything the Church stands for! Surely this must be a coincidence!_

Fiona inspected the image further. No, no coincidence, it was a perfect match, like she was looking at a photograph of Robyn. A feeling of tightening formed in her chest, which made Fiona realize that her queer nature was rising to the surface. She hurriedly closed the book and jogged to the library, returning it to its shelf, after which she ran to her room, which was conveniently nearby. She went for the bathroom, and searched the cabinet for her pills. Gulping two down, she changed into her pajamas, and laid down on her bed.

_By the Light, what a stressful night. No matter, you'll fall asleep and forget all about it. Everything will be fine._

* * *

Among the obsidian sands of Salem, the enslaved and the exiled alike find no refuge. This fact of life was a lesson learned harshly by those who built the pyramid that rested in the very heart of the continent, farther in than any Human or Faunus had gone. And yet, one stood. The creature was about the size of a two-story building, its body a cube whose inner diagonal was vertical in regards to the ground. Eight tentacles reminiscent of skeletal spines held it in the air, and its dark grey body was decorated with engravings of squares within squares on each side of its cubic body.

It walked inside, passing through the arch that led inside the pyramid. It passed bricks of reflective dark, finally arriving at a half-ovaloid submerged within the ground of the massive room within. As the creature stopped moving, the object shattered, and from within emerged a shifting, formless mass of bronze and grey that spread tentacles out to feel the air around it. As it became aware of the creature near it, it focused on it. Once it had the attention of the formless mass, the cube-thing spoke in a language that had not been spoken since the day Faunuskind invented the wheel.

"The Field is bountiful, the Fruit ripe beyond our wildest dreams, and the Adversary is nowhere to be found."

The formless mass slowed its writhing, and after a moment of pause, answered.

"Then let us feast."


	16. Bergentrückung

"...and this here is the Digital Observatory. Here we track all data from our satellites and make accurate starmaps from it."

Weiss listened to the 30-something man she knew as Elton Blight as the two entered the room in question. There were people sitting at various computers and massive screens showing stars connected by lines representing distances, as well as their positions in each of the constellations of Remnant's sky. The two passed through the busy crowd and entered a small room in which there was a single computer with a screen that covered half the wall.

"Now, Miss Schnee, what exactly did you want from me?"

Weiss pulled out a cartridge and pushed it into the socket of the computer. The device turned on, and a single image was projected on the screen - that of a machine, blocky in design, covered in few instruments. Elton's face took on the appearance of shock, which was quickly replaced with a neutral expression. _Not fast enough_ , thought Weiss.

"Do you recognize this device, Mister Blight?"

"Um, yes, that would be Beacon, the third satellite the RGEA ever launched. Oh, that reminds me, the station in the Digital Observatory that follows the progress of that probe is in need of repairs. I gotta remember to get a team on it."

"The station needs repairs? So you're saying that we won't be able to track it?"

"Uh, no, Miss Schnee. I'm afraid not."

Weiss reached for the computer's keyboard and typed in a command, which made the screen change to that of the probe being consumed by a strange object which had eight flat surfaces, like two pyramids that connected at the bottom with the one in the front being thrice longer than the one in the back.

"Interesting how this malfunction coincides with your desire to cover it up."

Elton sneered with anger.

" _Fuck_. How did you know?"

"We're the Schnee Star Company. Do I really need to explain any further?"

Elton sighed. He took a seat on a nearby chair and placed his face in the palms of his hands.

"Why did you try to cover this up, and not inform anyone else?"

"...we didn't want the information to get out before we could confirm it. And besides, if we did go public with it, the Corporations would have eaten us alive for not selling any of them the information."

Weiss raised her eyebrow.

"Are you forgetting the offer we offered you? If you sell us any interesting information regarding exploitable resources or anomalies prior to releasing it to the public, we eliminate any financial obstacles in your way."

Elton lifted his face and looked at Weiss directly in the eyes.

"Financial obstacles? You think that's our biggest problem? You think that you can fix everything with money!?", the man said as he rose. Weiss backed away and placed her hand near her tazer, which was concealed between her skirt and her pants.

"I didn't authorize to send the information because of one simple thing: I'm tired. Alright? I'm tired of uncovering the secrets of the universe just to look for places for you corporate stooges to exploit! Tired of watching you calculate how much profit you would be able to extract from a passing comet, all without even looking at the image the probe we sent captured! I'm sick of that shit!"

Tears started to run down Elton's face.

"Where's your sense of wonder? Of awe and amazement? You lost it, and in its place came your greed and inability to see beyond the material! The universe is a beautiful amalgamation of wonders that are completely free for us to observe and gawk at, but all you see is just another pile of money. Money, money, money!"

Weiss stared in silence. _Is, is this man serious? 'A sense of amazement'? Those are things you say to children!_

"I've been in this business since I was a kid, and in all that time I still haven't lost my appreciation for the beauty of the cosmos. I don't want to be a part of a system that can't see past its own need for money. I don't want to just survive paycheck to paycheck! I want to live, and if I have to throw away my job, I will!"

"Alright then. In that case, as representative of the Schnee Star Company, most powerful corporation in the solar system, I hereby revoke your status as Overseer of the Atlesian branch of the Remnant Galactic Exploration Agency!"

As she spoke that, she removed Elton's nametag from his suit.

"And, since you've decided to terminate our contract on hostile terms, I'm cancelling your Lifeline Allowance Card™, so you can say goodbye to your food packages!"

"Oh, thank the Brothers!"

Weiss froze.

"What?"

"I'm glad you cancelled it. I've been trying to get rid of that damn thing for months!"

"But, why would you get rid of it? It's what ensures you have a damn home and a warm meal and drinkable water!"

"But no matter how little I buy, the Lifeline card always finds a way to make my expenses greater than they have any right to be, all because of these stupid _fucking_ fees for the most banal shit, like how buying products from rival companies takes away 5% more money from my account than what the actual price is! _Who does that!?"_

Both of them faced each other in silence, the only sound being their own breathing.

"So that's it?", asked Weiss. "You're just going to walk out of here homeless, and be happy about it?"

With utter conviction and not a shred of ulterior motive, Elton answered:

"I would rather die than support the existence of a world where everyone has lost their sense of justice."

With that said, the man walked out of the room, leaving Weiss stunned.

_He... he was convinced. There's no mistake about it, he meant what he said. There was no trick, no lie, he... he truly believes in a greater cause._

She turned to look at the door.

_Father was wrong. Such people do exist._

* * *

Elton Blight made his way out of the gates of the RGEA center in Atlas, stepping onto the pavement. The snow had already started to set in, and he headed to the nearby bus stop. Just then, he was interrupted.

"Mister Elton Blight?"

Elton turned around to see a young woman. Her skin had a tanned complexion, her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that curled at the end like a chameleon's tail, and her eyes were a light gray with a faintly bluish tint.

"I was wondering if you could come with me, follow me to my car."

Elton scoffed. "I'm not falling for some corporate advertisement or whatever the fuck you're doing. And no, I don't need a ride home."

The woman smiled.

"I can assure you, this is not an ad campaign, Mister Elton Blight. Or should I say, _Dr. Sheldon Ryth_.

At that moment, Sheldon could have sworn that his blood had frozen. _How?_

"I think it would be best if you just came with me."

Sheldon nodded, and the two walked over to a nearby airmouzine that he didn't notice earlier. Strange, considering the vehicle was pitch black, in stark contrast to the white snow. They got inside, and the woman spoke to the driver, who shortly after lifted off.

"I should introduce myself. I am Ilia Amitola. Tell me, Dr. Ryth, have you ever heard of Salem Argent?"

Sheldon shook his head. "Never in my life."

"I see. To put it simply, we are the people who are dedicated to one thing, and one thing only: the Way Of Things. It is what we call the plan for running this world. Said plan is the masterpiece of the one known only as the Man On Top. No one's ever seen him, not even my superiors, yadda yadda yadda, you get the point. We're the secret organisation that made the world what it is today."

Ilia wanted to continue, but stopped when she noticed Sheldon getting furious.

"You... you... you're the ones behind the state of this world?"

Ilia sighed. "Yes, we're the reason the Faunus are treated so terribly across the world, and why Mistral has been getting destabilized recently. Get over it, it is what it is, and you can't do shit about it."

This made Sheldon even angrier.

"How can you say that? How can you sit back and watch as your own people are treated like lesser beings!? WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF KINSHIP!?!"

He quickly receded into his seat when he realized what he said. Ilia watched him with shock in her eyes, unmoving. A few tense moments of silence passed, and then she spoke.

"...how did you know I was a Faunus?"

 _"Shit,"_ Sheldon whispered to himself. Ilia crossed her arms and placed one of her legs on the other. Then, spots somewhat darker than her skin appeared on her arms, legs, stomach and face.

"Well, Dr. Ryth. Looks like you come with a few surprises. At least now I'm absolutely certain that obtaining you was not a waste of our time. You'll be telling us just what's inside that little head of yours."

In that moment, something happened, but Ilia wasn't quite sure what exactly. There was a blur, and a silent pinging noise. No, wait, it was reverberation. Whatever hit her must have made such a noise that it affected her hearing. Her eyesight came back after about five minutes, and she realized that the airmouzine was destroyed, as pieces of it were scattered across the snowy landscape. She couldn't see the driver, but she noticed an arrow of flame streaking across the sky. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw something that looked like, scythes on it? She suddenly felt the onset of unconsciousness, but before it could claim her, she heard someone walking on the snow. They came right above Ilia, and crouched. Ilia got a good look at their face, and she realized the person looking at her was, was...

Her heart skipped a beat, and she fell into sleep.

_Weiss?_


	17. Repressed Resolutions

The beeping of an electric kettle interrupted the relative silence of the apartment. Ruby rushed over to it and turned it off, proceeding to then pour the water inside into a nearby cup. Putting a teabag in it, she walked over to the couch in the living room. The apartment had a living room that connected with the kitchen, a single bathroom and a single bedroom. From what Ruby learned, this was standard for all Atlesian apartments. It was smaller than what she was used to, considering that back in Vale entire families live in one house, but she could manage. The only real problem was that there was a king-size bed, and there was only one Ruby Rose. But, it was the cheapest of all the apartments she could find, so she decided to take it.

_Damn, it's nice to have a moment all by myself. Just me, myself and I._

Ruby turned to her left side, noticing it was empty. Her mind flashed an image of Penny Polendina, the woman she met two days ago in that coffee shop. She felt blood rushing up her cheeks. She remembered how the girl acted in Ruby's presence, the way she looked at her. Ruby admitted to herself that she had a crush on the woman, and, in her opinion, the woman also had a crush on Ruby. Penny had an aura of honesty to her that Ruby wasn't expecting from someone in Atlas. The people here were crude, withdrawn, icy and tired, always going somewhere and never stopping to smell the roses. Well, there weren't any, since this was the tundra, but the point still stood: the average Atlesian was a generally bitter person. But Penny wasn't average. She had this sense of happiness in her personality, like a beacon of hope in a sea of despair. Ruby chuckled at her own poetic thoughts. _I wish I could see her again._

There was a knock on the door. Ruby placed her cup on the table and went to see who was visiting her. She opened the door, and the one in front was...

"Penny?"

"Salutations!"

The woman embraced Ruby in a tight hug, then quickly let go. "I am glad to see you! May I come in?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Penny stepped into the apartment, observing everything before taking a seat to the left of where Ruby was sitting on the couch. Ruby closed the door, joined her and took her tea. Penny looked at her expectantly.

"Um, Penny? How did you find me? I never told you where I live."

"Oh, that was easy! I just looked up your name in the Tourist Database! That's the Atlesian government's database that tracks all the tourists in the country!"

Ruby blinked. "The government's database?"

"Yes!"

"...how did you get your hands on something the government owns?"

"My father is a government researcher. He has clearance high enough for things like that."

"What does your father do, exactly?", inquired Ruby as she started drinking her tea.

"Well, he is the world's leading expert in the field of computer science, robotics and engineering."

Ruby spit out her tea in a split second, almost dropping her cup.

"Wait! Your father is Pietro Polendina!?"

Ruby diverted her gaze at the mess she made, and went to fetch some wipes.

"Yes, Pietro Polendina. Wasn't this obvious when I first told you your name?"

"Oh, yeah. I didn't notice. My mind was... somewhere else."

Penny observed Ruby as she cleaned the table, Ruby herself taking a few glances of Penny in turn.

"What about your father? What does he do?"

"Oh, he's a strawberry farmer down in Vale, on the island of Patch. Me and my half-sister help him out."

Penny seemed to light up.

"Oh, yes, Yang! The homosexual!" At that moment, Penny quickly placed her hands on her mouth. Just as Ruby was throwing away the wipes, she faced Penny with a puzzled expression.

"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"By the Brothers, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to sound so crude. It's just that, well, here in Atlas we, um, aren't used to, uh, _that_ kind of... lifestyle."

Ruby sat down next to her. "Yeah, I figured. You people are always so busy with just trying to live that you don't think about that sort of stuff."

For a moment, the two sat in silence.

"Oh, wow. I completely forgot to ask you what you're doing here."

Penny's cheeks flushed pink from the embarassment.

"Oh dear, I forgot. I..."

Silence again.

"...you forgot why you came?"

"No, no! I mean, I just wanted to visit you. You seemed like a very nice person, and I want to be your friend."

As Penny said that, she directed her gaze to her hands, which were resting on her hands, one grabbing the other. Ruby noticed this, and an idea popped into her head.

"Say, Penny. What would say about a sleepover?"

Penny turned to Ruby. "What is a sleepover?"

"By the Brothers," responded Ruby with a deadpan expression. "You don't know what a sleepover is!?"

"Is it bad that I don't?"

"Oh yes, VERY BAD. We need to fix this immediately! What do you say about staying over here, with me, where we can talk about things we like or the people in our lives?"

For a moment, Ruby could have sworn that Penny's eyes literally shone brightly.

"Yes. Yes, YES! I would love that! Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute girls!"

"Cute girls, huh?"

Penny suddenly stiffened, a look of worry appearing on her face. Ruby noticed this and put her hand on Penny's shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just worried how society might react if they knew my feelings about girls."

"Ah. I get it. You know, back home, when Yang and Blake announced their love for each other, there were some people who didn't tale kindly to that. They called them names, threw garbage at them, there was even this one time when someone attacked them. It was awful, but they managed to survive all that, and over time people came around to accepting it. Their bond even grew stronger. I know I was just an observer all that time, but... well, it told me that love is stronger than anything, and that nothing is more important than family."

Penny looked into Ruby's eyes, her own slowly being filled with tears.

"Don't worry," Ruby continued, pulling Penny into a hug. "Whoever it is you choose, I'm sure your love will overcome all obstacles."

_And I pray that the one you choose is me_ _._


	18. The Stars Cometh

Among pillars of red wood and orange grass, a shuttle landed on a clearing. It was shaped like an arrowhead, bone-white in colouration and with multicoloured lighting converging from a point in the front and splitting into two lines that terminated at the tips of the wings. A ramp lowered itself from the shuttle's underside, and a creature with a generally insectoid appearance and bone-white skin descended. It had two milky eyes shaped like almonds, and there was a thin sac-like protrusion on its back, filled with a rainbow-coloured fluid. The creature had six limbs: four legs and two arms. It made it's way through the sandstone-red vegetation, coming up on a two story cube-shaped structure made from the surrounding material. The red wood planks were cut so that they fit together perfectly. The creature went to knock on the circular door, but noticed that it was ajar. They stepped through, and found themself looking at another member of their species removing off a piece of metal with an electric saw. The creature made a high-pitched chirping sounds, their species' equivalent of coughing, and the other one turned. It raised its protective mask, placing it aside as it turned off the electric saw, and spoke.

"Agent Loornek, what a surprise! Look, I'm working on a new sculpture meant to express my belief that letting people tell us how to live our lives without making any decisions ourselves will inevitably lead us all onto a path of self-destruction and endless pain!"

The being extended the piece of metal in their arm and held it there for a moment.

"It-it's this."

Silence.

"It's a work in progress, okay?", they said, before turning to cut more metal.

"Professor Entrikkix, it's been a while. I hadn't heard of any serious developments of yours since your reassignment, and I thought I should check up on you."

Entrikkix scoffed, or rather made an equivalent noise.

"It's been 15 years, Agent. If you were really interested in knowing why I've been silent in the scientific community, then you'd have visited ages ago. What does the Parliament want from me now?"

Loornek went to say something, but was interrupted.

"No, no! Don't tell me. Let me guess: they've finally decided that my unorthodox methods are too much for them, and that they're getting rid of me. Or, they want me to go to Jittania and tell the natives _once again_ that their interspecies breeding program to create a race of super-beings is misguided because they refuse to accept the biological differences between organisms from different planets!"

"Actually-"

Entrikkix interrupted Loornek yet again, the sac on their back gradually turning a light red shade.

"Actually what, huh? What do they want from me? I thought they believed that I was a waste of resources, and that my quirkiness is a weakness! It's not my fault that I was born with this need to hyperfixate on things whenever I find something interesting, to experience it, and sometime return to it after years of leaving it behind for new things! Like this sculpture I'm making, it is directly inspired by what I saw when I worked on the Observation Station we built in orbit of the pre-FTL world of Remnant. The leaders of the natives were so engulfed in this almost fetishistic desire for order that they made an entire nation where they've eliminated every shred of change they could. It was disgusting, and it touched me in a special way."

"You're going back to Remnant."

Entrikkix stopped moving entirely. They slowly turned their head to face Loornek, the sack on their back turning yellow.

"... _what?_ "

Loornek took a deep breath.

"The Parliament has sent me to tell you that you're being redeployed to Remnant. Evaluation of the files of all the people who worked on the planet's Observation Station has told us that you are the one most qualified to call back for this mission. You have the most knowledge, considering one of the reasons you were taken off in the first place was because you kept downloading data from every single division on the Observation Station despite the fact that you worked in the geology department. But, that doesn't matter now. You're going back, because we're dealing with what might be a crisis of unprecedented scale."

Entrikkix stood in silence, pondering the situation.

_They want me. They actually want me._

"You, you're sure this isn't a joke?"

Loornek approached Entrikkix, placing a hand on the part of their exoskeleton where the upper arm and the torso met.

"Not when lives are at stake."

Stunned by this, Entrikkix took a deep breath.

"Let's go, then."

* * *

To an untrained observer, the ten objects moving out of the shining white light on the edge of the solar system would appear as bricks. However, that observer would have to be a Human or a Faunus, as no member of those two species would recognize what was happening for what it truly was: starships exiting hyperspace. On board, the creatures who had built them, the Shilathi, were preparing. Some were at their stations, others confirming everything was runing smoothly, and those who remained checked their gear and weapons. They were ready for war, for the future of Known Space, by extension the galaxy, and possibly the universe. Entrikkix was on the bridge of the main vessel, standing next to its commander, Agent Loornek, in actuality _Admiral_ Loornek, as the viewscreen showed a construct about the size of a two story house float through the void of space, while a beige, airless world lay in the background, illuminated by the faint light of this system's star.

"Hyperspace translation complete, Admiral. All ships are present and accounted for. The sensor technology that the natives use isn't advanced enough to detect us," spoke the Shilathi sitting at one of the consoles.

"Excellent. Proceed to the system's third planet. Professor Entrikkix, if you would follow me."

The two made their way to one side of the bridge, where a circular automatic door lead them to a conference room where eight chairs made for Shilathi were placed around an elongated ovaloid table. Loornek and Entrikkix took their seats.

"Well then, Professor, I think it's about time we told you why we need you here."

"Yes, I was wondering what all the fuss was about. I was told that my expertise was needed, and then they refused to elaborate what we were doing. I'm not really a fan of all this secrecy. I mean, they made you an Admiral, and you didn't tell me until we made it to the spaceport? Also, why do we need 10 ships for this?"

Loornek pressed a button on the table's touchscreen, turning off the lights in the room and opening a screen on the wall. An image was shown, that of a forested valley outside of a village. In the foreground, a hole was dug in the ground, while various machinery was threwn around, operated by Shilathi. Entrikkix recognized the village: it was Kuroyuri, the settlement on Remnant which was in the vicinity of where Entrikkix's team found the Nucklavee artefact, which was a square-like structure the colour of charcoal, with little red lights arranged in a rectangular fashion that Entrikkix's team had found when they were trying to mine some betharian stone that had been discovered in that very place.

"I'm sure you remember this place," spoke Loornek. "This image was taken by one of the workers, 15 years ago."

The image suddenly changed, showing a room with the Nucklavee artefact, but something was wrong: the artefact was open, seven Shilathi lay dead on the floor, their bodies simply slumped as if they died standing, and there was a hole in the wall that lead to a wilderness outside a large, industial settlement, which Entrikkix recognized as Mantle, one of the most developed cities on the entire planet. Loornek continued.

"The artefact was discovered by the natives about a week ago, and two days ago they tried to take it to an unknown location. The scouting forces we sent in advance of this fleet managed to intercept the ground vehicle which carried the object, and they took it to a secret base we had built on the northern continent. However, when we managed to find a way to open it, some strange, uh, entity, distrupted the footage. We couldn't see what it did, but it somehow killed the scientists who opened the artefact,and then proceeded to burst open a hole through the mountain. We've since lost track of it, and the only lead we have is that it looks like a 'light-blue mass'. That's all there is to it, I'm afraid."

Entrikkix turned to face Loornek. The sack on their back turned a dark orange hue.

"And you need me to find this thing?"

"Well, Professor, you did download files from other divisions of the Remnant Observation Post while you were stationed there. You yourself even had a lesser educational degree in xenology, and yourself showed a far greater interest in the natives than even the people who used to work in the Station's Cultural Studies department. Why did you choose geology?"

Entrikkix's sack turned a light pink shade.

"Honestly? The Geology department was the loneliest position on the Station, and, as I'm sure you know, I'm not exactly a people person."

Silence reigned for a moment, and then Loornek responded.

"I see. In that case, I'm afraid you're going to have to work with others now, since doing so is our only hope of finding this thing and containing it."

"...I understand."

Loornek nodded, rose from their seat, and left the room. Entrikkix sat there for a while, observing the vessels that travelled in the Admiral ship's wake, their ion thusters glowing emerald green.

_I wonder how Remnant's been doing. What did they discover? What did they invent? Have they replaced that parasitic system? So many questions._

A thought popped into their head, a memory of a pale young Human with silver eyes and neck-length black hair which ended in red tips.

 _I wonder what they've been up_ to.


	19. She Writes Tragedies, Not Sins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry about not posting in over a month. I have been busy with moving to a new home and school and a whole bunch of other things. Hopefully, I can keep these new chapters more frequent now.

_**3500 years ago** _

Menagerie may have been Remnant's smallest continent, but it was also home to the first great civilisation to arise on the planet. While Humans still lived in simple stone villages or as nomads, the Faunus had begun their first forays into astronomy and mathematics. It was simple, yes, and they had the understanding of philosophy that was, simply put, quite basic by modern standards, but this already made them wondrous in the eyes of the Human city-states on the southern coasts of the continent of Anima who traded with Menagerie.

Effervescent seawater crashed across the beach of the palace of the Chancellor of Khradaq, as Menagerie used to be known. In the palace's gardens, many Faunus were feasting on various food placed on circular tables that were scattered throughout the gardens. In the center, the Chancellor and their spouses sat on couches placed around a fire, and watched as their people enjoyed themselves, courtesy of the plentiful harvest that had come this year. Next to the Chancellor, there was a creature that had the appearance of a Human, but with massive wings, and a body made of what seemed to be green opal, but was more likely something alien to Khradaq, or possibly even Remnant. The creature itself was thrice as big as the Chancellor themself, and it observed the celebrations silently. The Chancellor turned to the creature, and spoke:

"Thank you, Xreed. On behalf of my people, I thank you for helping us reach this height. Our people are safe, our land is bountful, and our knowledge and understanding of the universe is larger than we could have imagined! We never could have made it out of our ignorance were it not for you."

The creature, Xreed, turned to face the Chancellor, it's face a crystal in which scintillating light moved like threads of silk.

"You give yourselves too little credit, Chancellor. Your people have within them to potential and the will to reach ever greater heights than this. All I did was speed up the process so that you may achieve utopia as soon as possible. Everything I've done, I did it so that, one day, your people could take off on their own as a responsible, mature civilisation."

"Mature," responded the Chancellor. "You want us to become mature enough to go to the stars without the flaws we currently have, to achieve a sublime state of existence, so that we may be friends with the other peoples who inhabit the stars."

Xreed tensed at the Chancellor's words. _This isn't what they said._

"You had hoped we could outgrow our animal instincts, that we could leave them behind."

A scream was heard at one of the tables. A Faunus woman had stuck a knife into another one's back. Instead of being horrified, the other Faunus took up their utensils and started stabbing each other with them. Their screams of pain slowly turned into laughter, and blood soon covered the floor. Xreed rose on her feet, her wings spread out in a threatening manner.

"You tried so hard to make us better as a civilisation, to make us better as a species, to make us so that we wouldn't be hostile to others, so that we wouldn't see others as lesser, so that we wouldn't trap ourselves in an all-consuming nightmare."

The sky turned dark with smog, and Xreed noticed that the lush jungle had been replaced with an industrial complex. From its gates marched orderly rows of warriors, no, _soldiers_ , in uniforms, wearing helmets that obscured their faces and each holding a weapon that shouldn't exist in this time. They stopped, lowered their weapons, and fired streaks of fire and thunder into the Faunus. Above, a bright light engulfed the Moon, and when it faded, there was a wound in it, and chunks of it were separated from it. They began to fall, burning up in the atmosphere.

"You did everything in your power to make sure we wouldn't become the scum of the universe," the Chancellor said as they rose to their feet. "And you know what?"

Xreed observed as the soldiers got closer, and trained their weapons on them.

"You've failed."

Bullets shot through the Chancellor, turning their body into bloody chunks, and shattering Xreed into crystal dust as she screamed terrifyingly in agony and despair.

"Boss, boss!"

Robyn raised herself on her bed, breathing rapidly. May was sitting next to her.

"Boss, are you alright? You were mumbling something, and then you just started screaming!"

Robyn touched her stomach area trying to find any holes, only to realize there were none. Her breathing calmed down, but her stress remained.

"It's fine, I'm fine, May. I, _sigh_ , I just had a bad dream. A false memory, you could say. It's nothing to worry about."

"Ah," May acknowledged. "Wanna talk about it?"

Robyn chuckled lightly as a smile crept up her face.

"Nah, I'm good. I don't mean to be a bitch, but you're not exactly capable of understanding."

"Heh, being cryptic as always. You do you, boss," May disclosed, before walking away through the door of Robyn's room.

Robyn grabbed a nearby pillow. Of course May couldn't understand. Robyn never wanted her to, nor any Human or Faunus. They weren't supposed to understand, since it was never supposed to happen. Tears formed in her eyes, and they streamed down her face.

_I failed you, May. I've failed you, Joanna. I've failed the Faunus, I've failed the Humans, I've failed all the people who were ever born on this ball of dirt._

The thought of a sheep Faunus woman flashed in Robyn's head.

_And you, Fiona. I've failed all who are like you._

She fell back into bed, and began to sob quietly for hours, until she went back to sleep.


	20. Requiem For A Fool

_**200,000 years ago** _

"What have you found, Mogudolis?"

Two dark blue owl-like creatures, each with four wing-like appendages, stood in a room with walls that were as black as the void between galaxies, while red-coloured holographic panels hovered around them. There was a large window into space, and from there the planet Ozma, a new colony, was visible, along with vessels belonging to the Nirrizi Dominion, an adolescent but nonetheless energetic and expansive civilisation that had only mastered the intricacies of faster-than-light travel 200 years ago. A long time, to be sure, but impressive for a civilisation that already held close to a thousand stars under its domain. It helps that all the other alien civilisations are primitives, out of whom none have even mastered the atom. Indeed, the most advanced of them, a species of telekinetic slug-like molluscoids called the Chagarians, have only just discovered the useful applications of gunpowder, which is nothing compared to the particle disintegrators found on Nirrizi ships.

The lighter-coloured of the two Nirrizi, Mogudolis, waved one of her appendages, and a holographic display appeared in front of them. It showed a projection of a patch of rainbow colours against a backdrop of empty space.

"The anomaly in orbit of Prophet's Retreat has started emmiting radio signals."

The darker-coloured Nirrizi remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"Radio signals? From the anomaly?"

"Yes, Minister. We have no way to pinpoint its exact location, and we checked for any ships that might have hidden themselves close to the anomaly. It's genuine."

"I see. And what _exactly_ have we been receiving?"

Mogudolis waved her appendage, which brought up an audiofile. Mogudolis made a thrusting motion, and the file played.

"Yuryur Yu'So vii Akatelimokitikovichim sudrek offuy shib shib galalayju-"

"Stop it," the Minister demanded. Mogudolis paused it.

"What is it, Minister?"

"That... that was Flesh Speech."

Mogudolis contorted her face into a surprised look.

"... _Flesh Speech?_ Minister, no offense, but how can you be su-"

"Because all Nirrizi in government positions need to know the speech. It's top secret, but all government officials in positions of administration are given an education in that cursed tongue as part of an ancient tradition that dates back to the end of the Mad War. All people in such positions in that age had to learn it in order to better fight against the Kin Eaters, and it stuck for all these millenia. And even though we in the government know it, it has never been spoken outside educational centers."

Mogudolis turned back to the screen.

"Then what is it doing being spoken by a hole in space?"

The Minister began to move for the door.

"I don't know, but we need to speak with the Queen. Has anyone other than you seen this?"

"Only the scientists that work on the observation station we built around the anomaly. And, uh, I don't think they told anyone in their families about it."

"Good. Tell them that this matter is not to be discussed about with anyone, not even amongst themselve-"

A dull, monotonous scream emanated from the holoprojection. Both of the Nirrizi present witnessed as the display showed the anomaly adopt a much darker shade of colour, with red and pink becoming more pronounced. The anomaly warped itself, changing into the shape of what seemed to be an eye, which was circular, with concentric circles inside its iris, which seemed to take up all the space the cornea would usually fill, and the pupil was incredibly small in comparison. The scream ended, and was replaced by an ethereal voice that spoke with unimaginable hostility.

_**"You have exceeded our expectations. Now we give you our gratitude."** _

* * *

A squadron of aerospace fightercraft zoomed past what remained of the Ozma Spaceport. Debris belonging to various Nirrizi warships floated through the void, their undamaged counterparts moving their hulks aside with their energy shields. In orbit of the planet Ozma, a titanic mass of eldritch geometries and shifting laws of physics was locked in a geostationary position relative to a single place on the planet. Down below, a massive nomadic group of hunter-gatherers consisting of Humans and Faunus was passing through a valley. The eldritch thing above had pointed its eye, identical to the one that came from the anomaly at Prophet's Retreat a decade ago, directly at the natives of Ozma.

Then, the fightercraft struck. All five of them each sent out energy projectiles consisting of tightly concentrated protons. When they hit the otherworldly abomination, they erupted into emerald green explosions which sent immensely irritating shockwaves throughout the thing.

"The Chariot's shield is down! All ships, open fire!"

From the debris field emerged the Nirrizi vessels, shaped like skyscrapers with smooth, round edges and red lights scattered across their hulls. They trained their weapons and unleashed the might of the Dominion upon the otherworldly invaders, who had carved a path of destruction through the one thousand stars which the Nirrizi had claimed.

Destructive spheres of high-energy plasma ejected from Plasma Accelerators, explosive shells were sent flying from the pipes of Autocannons, missiles equipped with antimatter warheads were deployed, and yet it still wasn't enough. A tentacle emerged from the Chariot, as the Nirrizi had come to know these titans of discord. It grabbed hold of the vessel nearest to it, being prevented from crushing it by the ship's energy shielding. The fleet then focused half of its fire on the tentacle, and in a matter of moments, it was torn off, vile energy and something that behaved like flesh flowing from the wounds.

With the wound opened, the Nirrizi pointed every single gun in their arsenal at the wound on the Chariot, and fired. The sheer intensity of such power was too much for the Chariot, as was seen from the unnatural way in which it vibrated as it suffered. Finally, it stiffened. And then it blinded the Nirrizi as it died with a blood-curdling scream that was heard by the nomads on Ozma, who looked to the skies to see the appearance of what seemed to be a second sun, until it faded away. Children went to hug their parents, while the adults held their loved ones to comfort each other from the stress of witnessing the death throes of what could be described as a god.

Hours passed, and the nomads decided to continue on their journey, while the Nirrizi fleet distorted the local space-time continuum and blasted off at speeds far exceeding that of light. These two groups were wildly different from each other, and yet, in this one moment, they were unknowingly connected by this experience, one which would become a legend in the histories of both their worlds, legends which would inspire artists and poets, which would define religions, which would stoke the fires of revolution, and so much more.

However, what both of these groups had missed was that four eldritch beings had escaped the Chariot before its demise. The first was a crustacean lifeform with bird feet instead of claws, the second was living fire arranged in the shape of a bird-like being with scythes in place of wings, the third was a writhing mass of matter the colour of bronze and grey, and the last one was an angel-like being the colour of green opal.

They gazed upon the world they were falling to, their eldritch minds already thinking up plans which would forever change Ozma's history, as well as its future.


	21. Which Is Stronger, Love Or Hate?

_**Present Day** _

As sunlight reached her eyelids from the windows, Ilia stirred awake. She inspected her surroundings, realizing that she was not in the snowy wilderness of Atlas anymore. Instead, it seemed that she was in a room of some sort. Her sight was still blurry, but she could surmise that the room had a lavish style to it, with diamond patterns lining the wallpaper and an expensive chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. It was only after turning to her right did Ilia notice a person sitting on the bed next to her. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she realized that the person on the bed was...

"Hello, Ilia," responded none other than Weiss Schnee.

Ilia felt her blood freeze instantly. The Heiress to the Schnee Star Company was sitting right next to her, in what Ilia quickly realized to be her own bed. As she calmed down due to the realisation of her situation, she felt a needle in her arm. She looked at it, noticing that she was attached to an infusion bag.

"How are you feeling?"

Ilia returned her attention to Weiss.

"...fine."

"I was hoping you'd say that, because you're going to be staying here for a while, and I need you stable."

Something clicked in Ilia's mind, and she understood what this was all about.

"I'm being interrogated."

The Heiress nodded. Ilia felt something grip her heart. Caught, yet again, and by Weiss nonetheless. It's almost as if fate was mocking her and her taste in love interests. She couldn't complain, though. To be infatuated with a person whose father had caused so much pain to her people was probably funny to some supernatural entity out there in the universe, and if she could, Ilia would get her hands on them.

"Indeed. You're probably wondering how we found you."

Ilia's memory came rushing back to her.

"I remember. I was in a hovercraft with, uh, someone, when suddenly everything lit up, and it was destroyed. How did you find me?"

"Well, for one, we noticed how you picked up a certain Elton Blight in your craft."

Ilia's blood froze once again.

"You were tracking us? How?"

"Because Mr. Blight quit his job _in my own face_ , and I was curious as to where he was going to go. So I followed behind him, and saw you pick him up. Now, the question remains: what does Salem Argent want with him?"

Ilia turned her head away from Weiss, her spots turning a barely-visible shade of pink.

"Like I'd tell you."

Weiss sighed.

"Look. None of us know what is going on with Elton Blight, and we're both curious as to why he was nowhere to be found at the crash site-"

"Wait, he wasn't there?"

"Oh, right. You don't know. We couldn't find a body anywhere, and there's also the matter of that strange flaming arrow that emerged from the craft."

"What arrow?"

Weiss grabbed something behind her which was obscured from Ilia. It was a suitcase, which upon being opened by Weiss revealed itself to be a computer. Weiss turned it on, and on the display there was an image of what was, sure enough, an flaming arrow in the sky. There were scythes coming out of the middle of its body.

"This image was taken ten hours ago outside Mantle. The people who took it say it came in at tremendous speeds, estimated to be at around 800 kilometers per hour, and then slowed down until it dissapeared into an outcropping of rocks. They went down to see that the entire area was completely intact, with no scorch marks anywhere or anything indicating that something had crashed there. What can you tell me about it?"

Ilia's skin turned a light shade of red.

"Why don't _you_ tell me about it? For all I know, your people knew we were going to pick him up, and decided to put a bomb there, and this flaming arrow thing could be a diversion from your guilt."

Weiss stared down Ilia, her breathing almost completely stopping.

"You're bluffing. Your people are just as clueless as we are, but you're too proud to admit it."

Ilia scoffed.

"No, it's because if I don't act all tough, my superiors would..."

She fell silent, her skin turning light blue.

"...well, it's nothing you'd want to hear about."

Weiss noticed Ilia's mood change, her throat running dry as she struggled to think of how to respond.

"Uh, well, no matter. There are still things we will have to speak about, but you took a pretty big fall. You'll be staying here for a while. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other work to attend to."

Weiss stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait," Ilia called out. Weiss froze as she held the handle of the door.

"Why are you keeping me here, in your own room?"

Weiss hesitated to answer for a moment, a pink colour highlighting her cheeks, though Ilia couldn't see it as Weiss faced away from her.

"Because I want to keep my eye on you. I'll be sleeping on the couch on the room in case you were wondering, so that I have you in my sights at all times."

She opened the door and stepped into the hall.

_And also because I want to see you first thing in the morning._

As the door closed, Ilia put her hand over her ear, and spoke.

"Command?"

"Yes, Agent Amitola, we heard everything," responded a smooth, but old-sounding voice in her head. Ilia estimated the man speaking to her was in his 50s or maybe even 60s.

"Not even the SSC has any idea what the hell the thing in the image is, it seems. We are pooling our resources into understanding that phenomenon, as well as ascertaining the whereabouts of Elton Blight, or rather, as he is really called, Sheldon Ryth."

"What about my retrieval?"

"We can do nothing about that, I'm afraid. Weiss Schnee has the same clearance level as Jacques Schnee, which is so high that even our hackers would need decades to crack their code, and the Man On Top doesn't tolerate those kinds of delays. Speaking of the Man, he has decided that you are in an excellent position to gather intelligence from the one place Salem Argent hasn't managed to sink it's fingers into. The Man says to focus on their private lives. After all, having blackmail material on the de facto ruling family of Atlas will surely make them more open to cooperation with us."

Ilia gulped. These kinds of assignments were the absolute worst.

"I understand, sir. I won't let you down."

"You better not, Amitola." With that, the voice fell silent.

Ilia slouched herself against the pillows. Out of all places she could have ended up in after her life was out in danger, it wasn't a hospital, it wasn't a prison, it wasn't a maximum security torture chamber. No, out of all places, it _had_ to be the home of the Heir to a corporate empire built on the pain and suffering of the Faunus, in the clutches of Weiss Schnee, completely at the mercy of what she had a big hunch was a cold-hearted spineless tyrant, just like her father.

And to make things worse, she was still attracted to her.

_Stupid, right? Falling in love to the one person who you should probably hate more than anyone? Pathetic, idiotic beyond words, low even for me, lousy fuck-up I am. Why am I like this? Why do I act as if somehow, somehow, this could all turn out okay? I'm gonna slip up, I'll make a mistake caused by my infatuation, and I'll ruin not only my career, but my life as well! And even if all that miraculously didn't happen, even if I pull it off, I'd have to eventually betray Weiss by giving Salem Argent that blackmail material. By the Brother Gods, just imagining her hate is tearing me apart. No matter who wins, I lose. That's the way it's always been. I don't understand why it should change now._

Ilia summoned a memory of Weiss in the room a moment before.

_The perfume she had on herself. It was Cherokee rose. My favourite._


	22. Desperation Is The Mother Of Atrocity

Winter sat in her chair, her office overlooking a snow-covered forest that was visible out of the massive window on her right. She was busy inspecting reports from various Schnee Star Company facilities across Atlas, since she was Chief Regional Manager for all SSC operations on the entire continent. Suddenly, an alert appeared on her computer.

**INCOMING VIDEO HAIL**

Winter turned to see who it was from, seeing that it was from none other than Penny Polendina. She froze, her pupils expanding, and then straightened herself. Taking a mirror, she made sure that her hair looked good. Ever since she had learned that Penny liked when people's hair was arranged into a bun, she had made sure to maintain this appearance in the hopes that she would like her better. With satisfaction, she put the mirror away, and answered the call. Penny's image took up the screen.

"Ah, Winter! I'm glad you could answer! Oh, your hair bun looks great! The lighting makes it seem, well, particularly pretty."

Winter raised her arm to hide her smirk.

"Y-you thi-"

Winter paused.

"I mean, thank you. Your comment is appreciated."

Penny smiled, and Winter felt her heart skip a beat. _How can she be so cute all the time?_

"I am glad that you called, but may I ask why?"

"Oh, simple! My father is hosting a small dinner party at our house with Weiss so that my father can show some new designs for machines that he made, and you're invited."

Winter held her breath for a moment.

"Dinner? Together? When?"

"Oh, tomorrow night! I should also say that there will also be a special guest there!"

"Oh? Who?"

"A few days ago, I met this young woman called Ruby Rose. She seems to have interests in engineering, and I want to introduce her to my father and his work."

"I see. And what exactly has this woman done to gain such attention from you?"

Penny leaned closer, her smile gone.

"Before I tell you, is this channel secure?"

Winter lifted her eyebrow at this sudden turn for the cryptic.

"Of course. This is my personal computer, with the same clearance level as my father. No one is listening in."

Penny's smile returned as she leaned back.

"The reason I invited that woman is because..."

"...well?"

"Because I've fallen in love with her!"

"..."

Winter's thoughts froze. Her pupils retracted, her muscles tensed, and her heart started pounding faster and faster.

"..."

"Uh, Winter?", Penny asked as her smile fell.

"...Penny, why are you telling me this?"

"...because you're my best friend. I trust you. And don't worry, I know how the public would react if they knew. That's why I'm keeping this between us."

Winter gulped, her forehead developing a milimeter-thin layer of swear from the stress she was experiencing.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Only my father. I haven't told Ruby herself yet because I don't know how she would react. Then again, she's not Atlesian, so she might take it better than if she was from here."

"Wait, she's foreign?"

"Yes, from the Republic of Vale. Her half-sister is actually in a relationship with a Faunus woman herself."

"Oh really? How interesting. Wait, if her half-sister is a homosexual herse-"

"Bisexual, actually. Ruby told me."

"...if Ruby's half-sister is in a same sex relationship herself, why are you worried as to how she might react? She obviously seems fine with what her half-sister has."

"True, true. But, I don't know how she would react to me confessing my feelings. I hope she likes women like me."

 _And me_ , Winter thought.

"Well, that doesn't matter. We'll find out soon enough. Will you accept the invitation to the dinner?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be there. Take care, Penny. Nice talking to you."

Winter pressed a button on her computer which ended the transmission. She put her elbows onto the desk, her head held by her hands.

_Am I actually losing her? Will she disappear from my life before I can take her to a life away from the frozen hell that is Atlas? Is it too late to do anything? By the Brother Gods, I want her. I want her._

_I need her._

* * *

A shining light blue, almost cyan material lay spread over the snowy ground of the Atlesian tundra, spread across like a discarded blanket. Blood surrounded it, Remnant blood, belonging to the pack of wolves whose corpses lay around the discarded material. Outside of this macabre circle, a being not of Remnant walked away into the woods, its dark form scaring all the animals away, as it seemed less like a physical body and more like a glitch in reality. A vague outline of a snake-like tail, a pair of arms and a horned rodent skull made up the creature's appearance, their shapes only barely comprehensible due to the ever-shifting black smoke from which the ethereal being was made.

 _ **By the Eightfold Manifest, I have finally gathered enough strength to shed the skin of my former host. Jinn did have the highest resistance to the laws of the Physical Realm out of all in our Cluster. It only made it easier to hide in her and feed on her as the millennia passed and I could once again roam the universe**_ , the being thought to itself in its eldritch mind.

It brought its head up, looking beyond Remnant's skies and witnessing the space stations that orbited the planet, interplanetary ships moving between them and out into this solar system.

 _**Alas, it seems the dominant species of this world still haven't found a way to cross the distance between stars. I will have to remain in hiding for longer than I thought. However, that does not mean that I can just be lazy and do nothing. This world will be my starting point. I'll build an empire, make it prosper, and then my people will return to feast on it. All I need is a starting point, someone desperate enough to call for the aid of beings such as I. Someone who is on the grasp of losing what they desire. Someone who** _ _**-** _

_Am I actually losing her?_

The creature ceased moving.

_Will she disappear from my life before I can take her to a life away from the frozen hell that is Atlas?_

It turned its head to one of the surrounding mountains, where a large building was built on a cliff that emerged from the base of the mountain.

_Is it too late to do anything? By the Brother Gods, I want her. I want her._

_**Well,** **well**_ , the alien demon thought as it made whatever inconceivable equivalent it had for a smile.

_I need her._

_**Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Excellent.** _

The abomination made its equivalent of a chuckle.

_**Most excellent.** _


End file.
